Food How to Eat and Choose Sweet Juicy Purple Mangosteen?
 

Interesting...
How to Eat and Choose Sweet Juicy Purple Mangosteen?
Written by Shirley T   
Wednesday, 20 May 2009 06:54
Purple mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) or sometimes written as mangosteen is like a marriage made in heaven with durian. As and when you can 'see' and smell durian, mangosteen will be also be around, bearing the fruits in the same season. Some folks in South East Asia called the purple mangosteen as Queen of Fruits since durian is well-known as King of Fruits!
A kilogram of mangosteen for RM6
Of a size roughly like a billiard ball or slightly smaller than a tennis ball, mangosteen skin appears in dark purple color and the fruits beyond this hard shell similar to garlic cloves are of white in color.
What is the taste of a ripe mangosteen? Most described it as indescribable and some said it is rather mysterious. I say it is simply lovely! Sweet, juicy and perhaps a bit of creamy. Even the thought of mangosteen really made me drooling!

Having said that, not many of us know to choose a sweet and juicy mangosteen. Since I was hesitant to leave Balik Pulau Lookout area (of Penang island) empty handed, I grabbed some mangosteens to take home although the price is RM6 for a kilogram.
Count the bottom petals and you can guess how many cloves you will get!
As I started to pick and choose from a table of mangosteens, I asked the friendly chap who was attending to me on how to pick the best deal. He told me that the sweet, juicy and ripe mangosteen's shell shall feel supple in your hand. If it gives you the hard feel like a rock, then it might not ripe yet!

After getting the tips on how to choose, then you might be thinking of how to break open to eat this mysterious fruit. If you are looking for information from numerous sites, mangosteen is recommended to be cut half along its 'equator' line.

Nevertheless, do not get upset if you do not have any cutters. Just proceed with the most classical approach, which I learned long time ago! Hold both of your palms together plus fingers-crossed like a bowl holding the mangosteen.
Firstly, put into the palms
Then, apply a controlled pressure and squeeze on its shell. No all fruits under the sun requires a knife to break or open it. Get your hand dirty, enjoy the white flesh of juicy mangosteen and have fun! At the same time, watch out for the reddish juice from its shell that could stain your fancy clothes.
Secondly, put a slight pressure and squeeze the shell until it tears
If you observe carefully, the total petal at the bottom of the mangosteen in above picture is 6. And the total cloves of white flesh at the bottom picture is also 6!
Finally, here is the white flesh!
Guess I am born under a lucky star! All the white flesh of my mangosteens were so tasty!!!

Nothing beats the good feel of taking life in its natural way ~ Shirley T
Trackback(0)
Comments (0)add comment

Write comment
smaller | bigger
 

busy
  		 

Highlights...