I tried Kiwano melon about 25 years ago when it first appeared in the market . Same as you, out of curiosity, we bought this strange looking orange/greenish melon with sparks all over. back then was $5.99 a piece, very expensive for a college student at that time, and the size of the fruit. Yeah, not very interesting tasting, never bought again.
Who said lightning wonât strike same place twice, this past weekend we had similar experience again. We were in Toronto, in a Asian market, we saw a set of fruit that I have never seen before, ironically, was $5.99 as well. So out of curiosity, we bought this good looking fruits . As it turns out, it is all seeds. The pulp is sweet and have very pleasant aroma, but keep the seed out of the little pulp is heck of job with very little award. I will wait for my retirement to eat this fruit again . Curiosity do kill the cats
IL,
The inside of the fruit you posted looked so much like passion fruit. The only passion fruit I have seen are still green on its vine. I do not know what color it has when ripened. If it is one kind of passion fruit, it is sieved. Pulp and juice is used.
Speed,
The kind of rambutan that is widely sold is no-cling. It has red skin with green âhairâ. The flesh is firm, not soft, It is sweet and aromatic. I like it but not my favorite.
Yeah, it was passion fruit. Not much pulp and juice in a fruit, I will break my bank to get a cup of juice . If I recall rambutansâ flavor, I think it similar to lychee but Lychee have more aroma, Although the one I had was sold in market in U.S, canât compare to the fruit quality grown/ripen in its native land.
When I eat rambutans or lychees sold in Asian market in MA, they taste almost as good as those sold in native lands. To me, rambutans are mainly sweet while lychees have a nice blend of sweet and sour taste, a good combination that makes lychees more interesting.
They certainly are interesting to look at. One of my co-workers saw the casing in my trash can and asked, âWhat the hell are you eating? Sea urchin!â haha.
as with other fruits, rambutan comes in many varieties. Just as some varieties of peaches and apples are not worthy, there are also those which deserve some effort in growing. Same with rambutans and many other fruits. Could be that the ones they ship are the least likely to spoil(having to travel across the pacific!)
As with bananas, there are many other varieties which are better-tasting than the cavendish-type we see everyday in supermarkets here, as sadly, only the cavendish ships well and is the type which is receptive to manipulation via artificial conditions(temp control, ethylene treatment, etc)
If my memory serves me right, I remember, as a child, had eaten a type of banana thatâs less slimy and more starchy with a distinctive fragrant. Now that I grew older, I still could not find what I wanted to try again.
canât call it âglobalizationâ yetâif the best tropical fruits arenât available for sale in usa.
weâve got to do something about this sparse fruit vocabulary, as many in this country are limited to apples, nectarines, peaches, and grapes. Worse is that for every 100 nectarines sold in america, 97 are laden with pesticides. Anyone in this forum actually growing pesticide-free peaches?
many tropical or sub-tropical fruits do not require pesticides.
I did not spray my peaches this year. There was a lot of drop and the fruit you get has some damage. I also had a ton of split pits this year especially on otherwise undamaged fruit. I am not trying to grow a huge supply of peaches , just enough to eat some freash and make a cobbler or two.
. As it turns out, it is all seeds. The pulp is sweet and have very pleasant aroma, but keep the seed out of the little pulp is heck of job with very little award. I will wait for my retirement to eat this fruit again 
. Curiosity do kill the cats 
. If I recall rambutansâ flavor, I think it similar to lychee but Lychee have more aroma, Although the one I had was sold in market in U.S, canât compare to the fruit quality grown/ripen in its native land.
