Anyway, what is a 'Yong-gwa'? Do you peel and eat them? Are they worth buying? Or, does anyone dare me to eat one and can I make money out of it somehow?
Saturday, September 30, 2006
What is "Yong-gwa"?
I saw the box of fruit for sale at a local supermarket. The fruit looks otherworldly to me. Apparently, it is grown in Chejudo. On the right, is a fruit from a tree at Gwandong University. Clearly, the fruit are different but similar. Are these the cultivated and wild varieties of the same fruit?
Anyway, what is a 'Yong-gwa'? Do you peel and eat them? Are they worth buying? Or, does anyone dare me to eat one and can I make money out of it somehow?
Anyway, what is a 'Yong-gwa'? Do you peel and eat them? Are they worth buying? Or, does anyone dare me to eat one and can I make money out of it somehow?
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4 comments:
That's a dragonfruit--very delicious, with a mild banana melonny citrus sort of flavour. If you buy it, I'll eat it for free any day, but I would pay top dollar for a good pommelo right now--their everywhere this time of year in China, and you can get them in Japan, too, but the Jeju Citrus Association, which controls (blocks) citrus fruit imports on behalf of the government (??!!) won't let them be imported, lest people think they taste better than Halla Bongs. When I go to Jeju tomorrow, I'll give them a peice of my mind . . .
Yes, the fruit on the left is dragonfruit, but I don't think there's any banana flavour in it. It is available all over Asia and comes in 2 versions - with white flesh and red flesh. I don't know what the fruit on the right is.
The skin has to be peeled off, this is quite thick. There are many edible seeds randomly dispersed in the flesh. The dragon fruit seeds are similar in appearance to kiwi seeds, but kiwi seeds are only clustered around the center of the fruit. The flesh is usually cut into bite-size pieces before being served up.
I went to Jeju and saw the dragonfruit plant at the citrus museum there--it's a sort of long cactus-like vine. the dragonfruits I ate there were a lot milder than I remember, and the "banana" bit is more a description of the texture than the flavour, I guess. I saw pomellos there, too--but only in the museum. The Korean name for a pomello, though is 문단, in case you're interested. I've never seen that in any dictionary, though.
BTW, Brian, I got them for 3,500 a piece in Jeju, but they were very ripe. I saw some selling for twice that. I wouldn't pay that much--you can get them at Superstore in Canada for less, I think.
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