What Color is Your Dragon Fruit?

Have you ever tried this ferocious sounding fruit? Don't worry, it tastes much milder than it sounds! Also known as pitaya, dragon fruit actually comes from the cacti family. Recently, my husband's cousin from the US came down to Malaysia for a visit. His fiancee says it's not common there and she's never had it before (gasp!) so off we went dragon-hunting.

You can see the fruits growing on the left. Interestingly the flowers live one day, blooming at night and wilting by morning, hence the moniker "moonflowers". On the right are harvested mature fruits.

There are two varieties: white and red fleshed. The secret is to make sure yours is red. Reds have a more distinct sweet flavour coupled with fun chunchy seeds whereas the whites tend to be bland. Ask your fruit seller because they look identical from the outside.

WARNING: Reds tend to color excretions so don't panic if you see red in the toilet (and you will if you consume even half a fruit). You're not bleeding your guts out, its just pigments called betalains.

Baby Sweetcheeks loves and eats dragon fruit on a weekly basis. Usually ends up looking like an extra from Walking Dead.

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