Have You Ever Tried Dragon Fruit?

Kent and I have seen this unusual dragon fruit in a couple international markets in Chicago but never tried one. We've more recently seen them in the Caribbean and in Florida, and decided to try one. Delicious! 

This is a dragon fruit. We bought this fruit at a roadside produce stand in Fort Pierce, Florida. 

A ripe dragon fruit has a soft, somewhat rubbery bright reddish-pink skin, which is inedible.

The dragon fruit, or pitaya or pitahya, is a cactus fruit originally native to Mexico. Later, the fruit was transplanted to Central America and Asia, and is commonly cultivated in south and east Asian countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

I cut the fruit lengthwise and found a white fleshy interior with tiny black seeds.

Neither of us knew how to choose a dragon fruit, so the woman at the roadside stand helped us pick one out. A ripe fruit has a deep-colored skin and feels "soft but firm" without any juice leaking out. We paid $2.95 for our large fruit. Not knowing how to prepare or eat a dragon fruit, we went online. 

The texture of the flesh is a cross between watermelon and kiwi.
The seeds are not particularly noticeable, just like kiwi seeds.
(Pretty cool close-up taken with my iPhone, unbelievably.)

The woman who sold us the fruit told us to refrigerate the dragon fruit and eat it cold, so we did. Kent and I both agree it is best eaten cold.

You scoop the fruit out of the skin and slice it, cut it up,
or blend it in a smoothie--whatever. 

We carved our dragon fruit up and ate it plain for breakfast. Delicious and refreshing! I wish we'd bought more than one!

Besides being pretty, the fruit is succulent and refreshing.
And it has its own unique and very subtle flavor. I think it tastes
like a cross between kiwi, watermelon, pear, and strawberry.   

Dragon fruit displayed at the market

The dragon fruit has nocturnal flowers...

This picture, courtesy of Wiki, shows the cactus flowers, which bloom only at night. The blooms are
sometimes called moonflowers or Queen of the Night.

Pitaya plants in a nursery

Dragon fruit may have red, pink or yellow skin.

 It also may have white or red flesh. The flavor is the same. 

Dragon fruit makes a delicious, beautiful, and unusual addition to a fruit salad! The colorful fruit also look pretty cool in a bowl as a centerpiece and would intrigue your guests, at least in Chicago, where the fruit is uncommon. 

Now, run out to your nearest international market and buy some dragon fruit!