What Everyone Should Know About Dragon Fruit

We live in a time when it's not unusual to go to your local supermarket and find exotic fruit. Chances are you've shopped your local market and come across fruits you didn't even recognize and dragon fruit was probably one of them. This beautiful pink, spiky fruit may look like it's from another planet, but actually originated in Central America. The following information will not only teach you how to select and serve this delicious fruit, but will let you know what to expect nutritionally as well.

Nutritional Value

Dragon fruit happens to be extremely healthy and has even been used to substitute rice or potatoes for diabetics. One dragon fruit contains around 60 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 60mg of sodium, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 8 grams of sugar and 2 grams of protein. However, the nutritional value doesn't stop there. Dragon fruit is also high in Vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus and antioxidants.

Shopping

When shopping for dragon fruit, you want the skin to be a pink throughout. A few, small brown spots are normal, but there shouldn't be large brown spots. To test the ripeness, you press the fruit with your thumb, the same way you would a mango. The flesh of the fruit should give a bit, but should not be mushy. If the flesh is hard, the fruit is under-ripe and the flesh will not be as sweet.

Prepping

To prepare dragon fruit to serve, you simple use a chef's knife to cut the fruit in half and then use a spoon to scoop out the flesh. You want to make sure to remove any pink pieces of skin that may have clung to the flesh while scooping it out. You can then cut the flesh into bite sized pieces.

Serving

As mentioned above, dragon fruit makes an excellent substitute for rice and potatoes in a diabetics diet due to the low amount of carbohydrates. But, there are countless ways to serve this delicious treat. Dragon fruit can be tossed into a fruit salad to give the salad a new flavor. You could also add it to your favorite juice recipe or make it into a smoothie. You could even puree the fruit and use it to make a sorbet or ice cream. The possibilities are truly endless. Regardless of how you serve this fruit, it will add an exotic flavor that your taste buds will enjoy. Best of all, it's a flavor that will keep your dinner guests guessing as to what that special ingredient is.

Sources:

National Library of Singapore: Dragon Fruit

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