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Fruit

liuzhou

By liuzhou
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liuzhou

liuzhou

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24 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

Those have such a high polish on them! Out here, that would be associated with a run through a packing plant (with food-grade wax finishing the process) but then they wouldn't have the leaves. How is the fruit handled there, to give it such a shine?

 

I don't know. They aren't waxed though. Maybe just super fresh?

 

People here wouldn't accept waxed citrus. Everyone (including me) dries the peel for cooking with.  It's an essential ingredient in many dishes.

 

 

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BeeZee

BeeZee

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Bought a package of guavas today, they are yellowish with cream color flesh. I tried one which looked sort of ripe, maybe it wasn’t quite there, but the seeds are really unpleasant. It was like chewing BB’s, they were really hard. Do the seeds get any softer if the fruit is more ripe? I like the flavor, but no way I am eating those seeds, I will cook them and use a fine strainer to separate the flesh as fall back.

Edited by BeeZee (log)

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liuzhou

liuzhou

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On 2/26/2024 at 8:26 AM, BeeZee said:

It was like chewing BB’s, they were really hard. Do the seeds get any softer if the fruit is more ripe? I like the flavor, but no way I am eating those seeds, I will cook them and use a fine strainer to separate the flesh as fall back.

 

It's not a problem I've had but I'm certain they're not going to soften. This website may help you deal with them in other ways.

 

https://www.guavafacts.com/how-to-eat-guava-seeds/

 

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

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BeeZee

BeeZee

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Posted

Thanks, my original plan to make jam is probably the way I'm going to deal with them. Seems like hard seeds are a characteristic of this variety.

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liuzhou

liuzhou

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I have come across a very local fruit. So local in fact that it has no English name that I've been able to find. The botanists are so excited they have given it the catchy name Campanumoea Lancifolia (Roxb.) Merr. [Campanula Lancefolia Roxb.] and a back up name Cyclotron lancifolius, and that's it apart from the Chinese name, Simp: 红果参; Trad:  紅果參(hóng guǒ shēn) which literally translates as 'red fruit ginseng' , although it is unrelated to ginseng.

 

IMG_20240305_141809_edit_449792277198033.thumb.jpg.9b93fda5d76636a1162b21f7aa4556e7.jpg

 

There is very little information on the website about this fruit in English, other than it is cultivated in southwest China. Guess where I am! The Chinese articles aren't much more enlightening.

 

About 2.5 cm / one inch in diameter they have the texture of a particularly juicy apple and taste like a cross between a sweet pear and apple. Quite pleasant.

 

Inside, they look like this.

 

IMG_20240305_141915_edit_449844750246463.thumb.jpg.b36ac3e70dec527aabbac4f5d4beb85b.jpg

 

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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liuzhou

liuzhou

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S: 红枣; T: Trad. 紅棗 (hóng zǎo), Ziziphus jujuba, jujubes, sometimes called Chinese dates despite being nothing like any date I've ever had.

 

IMG_20240306_170253_edit_7739679324339.jpg.471226bb0a14655191e5256cff7a4a72.jpg

 

These are obviously fresh and for eating as is, but they are also sold dried in which case they are cooked in soups and hotpots.

 

 

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chromedome

chromedome

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Posted (edited)
On 3/5/2024 at 2:28 AM, liuzhou said:

I have come across a very local fruit. So local in fact that it has no English name that I've been able to find. The botanists are so excited they have given it the catchy name Campanumoea Lancifolia (Roxb.) Merr. [Campanula Lancefolia Roxb.] and a back up name Cyclotron lancifolius, and that's it apart from the Chinese name, Simp: 红果参; Trad:  紅果參(hóng guǒ shēn) which literally translates as 'red fruit ginseng' , although it is unrelated to ginseng.

 

IMG_20240305_141809_edit_449792277198033.thumb.jpg.9b93fda5d76636a1162b21f7aa4556e7.jpg

 

There is very little information on the website about this fruit in English, other than it is cultivated in southwest China. Guess where I am! The Chinese articles aren't much more enlightening.

 

About 2.5 cm / one inch in diameter they have the texture of a particularly juicy apple and taste like a cross between a sweet pear and apple. Quite pleasant.

 

Inside, they look like this.

 

IMG_20240305_141915_edit_449844750246463.thumb.jpg.b36ac3e70dec527aabbac4f5d4beb85b.jpg

 

 

Very cool.

 

Apparently it's part of the broader magnolia family (as are nutmeg and cinnamon, so I've already learned a few new things today). One blogger seems to call it "spider berry," but that appears to be an ad hoc name that nobody else uses or acknowledges.

 

(ETA: Liuzhou doubtless knows the above already, but I thought maybe it saves someone else a click or two on Google...)

Edited by chromedome (log)

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"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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liuzhou

liuzhou

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I saw these when looking for oranges and was intrigued. Fruit sandwiches. Apparently invented by some internet celebrity I've never heard of.

 

IMG_20240310_155911.thumb.jpg.9c8cab159c790da63d635c8661e0a544.jpg

 

Black plum inside slices of mango. The slightly sour plum and the sweet mango make an amusing but interesting mouthful.

 

IMG_20240310_160120_edit_157619689105635.thumb.jpg.b43d0b91734162ead5fa56d1b6b775e5.jpg

 

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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liuzhou

liuzhou

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I'm in shock.

 

For the first time, after almost 30 years in China, today I saw the first canned fruit ever. 

 

黄桃 (huáng táo), yellow peaches

 

Screenshot_20240326_221918_com.sankuai.meituan_edit_14483621467581.thumb.jpg.b282837147b35def2b51705c4945e93f.jpg

 

Did I buy them? Of course not. I can get them fresh.

 

It's the latest sign of the decline of civilisation!

 

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

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43 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

I'm in shock.

 

For the first time, after almost 30 years in China, today I saw the first canned fruit ever. 

 

黄桃 (huáng táo), yellow peaches.

 

Screenshot_20240326_221918_com.sankuai.meituan_edit_14483621467581.thumb.jpg.b282837147b35def2b51705c4945e93f.jpg

 

Did I buy them? Of course not. I can get them fresh.

 

It's the latest sign of the decline of civilisation!

 

 

Checking out some menus for restaurants along our route to south Texas I came across one that offered two fruit options: fresh and canned! There must be plenty of people who grew up on canned fruit cocktail, but I wasn't one of them.

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

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21 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

Checking out some menus for restaurants along our route to south Texas I came across one that offered two fruit options: fresh and canned! There must be plenty of people who grew up on canned fruit cocktail, but I wasn't one of them.

 

I was.  Canned fruit was a regular dessert in my elementary school cafeteria.   Apples were the only fresh fruit I ever saw offered there.  

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KennethT

KennethT

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PXL_20240331_195653595.thumb.jpg.a928c6dd3fb545dd6b5ec10ad7571abd.jpg

 

Picked up some more Vietnamese green mango. This one is probably over 2 pounds. We got 10# which was 6 mangoes, some a bit smaller than this one.

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liuzhou

liuzhou

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7 hours ago, KennethT said:

Picked up some more Vietnamese green mango. This one is probably over 2 pounds. We got 10# which was 6 mangoes, some a bit smaller than this one.

 

My mango today was just a bit smaller.

 

_20240401115351.jpg.0ae981955626f7a923212b2bfe88938d.jpg

 

143 grams / 5 oz.

 

It was the largest of the four I bought, the smallest being 110 grams / 3.9 oz

 

_20240401115400.thumb.jpg.ad85d4517ef0f7a898b604101a98c0f4.jpg

 

They sure smell good but need a day on the counter, I estimate.

 

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weinoo

weinoo

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On 3/31/2024 at 4:06 PM, KennethT said:

PXL_20240331_195653595.thumb.jpg.a928c6dd3fb545dd6b5ec10ad7571abd.jpg

 

Picked up some more Vietnamese green mango. This one is probably over 2 pounds. We got 10# which was 6 mangoes, some a bit smaller than this one.

 

I went by this vendor yesterday and picked up smaller Thai mangoes (and jeez, these are not cheap!). So, not wanting to screw it up (cause jeez, these are not cheap!), when is it ready for eating?  

Edited by weinoo (log)

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KennethT

KennethT

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5 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

I went by this vendor yesterday and picked up smaller Thai mangoes (and jeez, these are not cheap!). So, not wanting to screw it up (cause jeez, these are not cheap!), when is it ready for eating?  

Yeah, the Thai mangoes are more than the Vietnamese ones.  We usually prefer them green, so most probably as soon as possible.  Depending on the stage when they were picked, even if you let it ripen fully on the counter, it will be a pale reflection of what it should be and would have been better to eat green.  But if they were ripe enough on the tree, then I'd wait until they soften and the skin just starts to wrinkle.

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Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

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I've only had experience with Costa Rican mangoes but I have found that every type ripens differently. You just cannot go by looks. I usually go by smell. If the skin starts to wrinkle, it is way too ripe and mushy. I only have this one on hand right now.

20240410_075856.thumb.jpg.b8ecf30d6d322c4a21dff42a10745800.jpg

 

20240410_075824.thumb.jpg.1d318fc453a0f4a3b42b125d0da02fdc.jpg

It doesn't quite look ripe but it smells ripe so it is ready to use. It only weighs 6 and 1/2 oz but some of our mangoes are up to a kilo.

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