Mystery Fruits

In addition to the standard apple, orange, banana, etc., there are lots of interesting (that's a nice way of saying strange) fruits in Hong Kong and Mark and I have had a good time testing them out since we moved here. There have been some new arrivals on the fruitstands lately that have reinvigorated our sense of adventure and I thought it would be fun to share with our friends back in the U.S.

The food above is a Lychee and although I haven't tried it fresh (yet), just about everything comes with an option for lychee flavor. Just like there's always an option for "strawberry flavor" in the U.S., you can always choose Lychee here. It's kind of sweet and a little nutty.


This is a custard apple and beneath that hard green shell is a soft, sweet custardy apple that is actually really good if you freeze it and eat it like a sorbet.

You probably recognize the papaya and mangos below and I can't do a blog about fruit without showing a picture of the papaya and mango because these are probably the most popular fruits here. (the one with the orange fruit inside is the papaya) The Philippine mango is yellow like the picture below and it is soooooo sweet and delicious if I had to eat nothing but Philippine mangos the rest of my life, I would be happy.










The Mangosteen has this weird hard purple shell and it's about as big as a plum, but not as much edible fruit. You peel off the hard outer shell to reveal the white fruit inside and then you get the most sweet, delicious morsel of yum.


The dragon fruit looks impressive, but doesn't have enough flavor to win me over. Once you get past the spiny pink and green outer peel, the white seedy inside is kind of flavorless, but can be refreshing and filling.

The durian is what is known as the STINKY fruit. I haven't tried it yet and have been warned by many people that it smells like vomit but if you can get past the smell, the taste is quite good. This is a fruit you eat outside, because if you even bring it indoors, the whole place will stink for days.


These small grape-like berries are Logan and they are like lychee but have a more tapioca, coconut flavor. Good for making desserts.






I'll wrap up this fruity blog with the wax apple. A truly tasty and sweet apple you can buy almost all year long. Yum!