We always like to think that the American people are not as exploratory as we are in eating, and do not love strange food, but at the same time, the United States is also the world's largest immigrant country, so many African fruits and Latin American fruits that China does not have can actually be found in the United States.
Share a few rare American fruits in China:
1. Cactus Pear/Tuna
When it comes to cacti, most Americans always think of Mexico first. Mexico is indeed rich in all kinds of cacti, and the Mexican people do love to eat cacti and cactus fruits. In China, most of this stuff is home-grown and eaten, while in the United States, there will always be some fresh and cheap cactus fruits in the regional supermarkets where Mexican immigrants live.
Cactus fruit, or Tuna in Spanish, is generally available in both red and green. The green is like a sweeter dragon fruit, mixed with some very faint fishy smell. The red cactus fruit generally tastes much better than the blue color, they generally have no strange taste, the moisture is very sufficient, and it can be compared with pears or watermelons. In terms of taste, the cactus fruit resembles a combination of watermelon and dragon fruit, but it is more fragrant than both, accompanied by a very refreshing sweetness similar to that of peaches.
And this stuff is generally very cheap, most of the supermarkets in the south of the United States are 3-5 dollars a dollar, in New York and Boston is only about 50 cents. If you live in a state like California, Texas or New Mexico, you can even pick a few fresh cacti on the street and eat them. Of course, pay attention to safety and do not get stuck (the picture shows me the wrong demonstration I personally did).
2. Cherimoya/guanabana
Both of these are called cherimoyas in Chinese. From the appearance, it can be seen that they are close relatives of Taiwanese Shakya fruit, and the taste is naturally very similar, but the price is generally slightly lower, and many tastes better.
The pulp of the soursop is about 30%-50% similar to that of Shakya, but the overall taste of Shakya is relatively mediocre, a bit like a soft glutinous version of pears, while the soursop has more pineapple and lychee sweetness, and the sweetness is higher. Although the flesh has jackfruit-like fibers, it is very soft and tender, and it will not be too chewy or stuffed. Finally, the better ripeness will have a natural wine aroma, which is really tempting.
For a more detailed analysis, look at this article I wrote before, which is particularly detailed about cherimoya:
Blue Puppy: Introduction/Review: Those Strange Fruits of Mexico1125 Agree · 95 comment articles
3. Cashew
You might say, well, but there are a lot of cashew nuts in China.
However, the cashews we generally eat are ripe and completely peeled dried fruits, and some of them in the United States are in the form of cashew nuts. The American people love cashew nuts so much that many southern states have large-scale cashew nut cultivation. At the same time, countries in the south of the United States such as Honduras and Saltova are also large cashew exporters, so it is not too difficult to find fresh cashew nuts in the United States.
Cashew (without nut) should be translated as cashew pear. The cashew nuts we usually eat are the cotyledons in the seeds above the fruit, but the real fruit itself is rarely seen.
The cashew pear looks like a lotus mist, the outer skin is like a large green pepper red pepper, and if you rub the outer skin hard, it also smells a little bitter like a green pepper, which also looks a bit like the skin or rhizome of a green mango.
The flesh of the cashew pear is very sweet, with a sweet and stinky taste very similar to jackfruit, and there will be some numbness near the skin, a bit like a less ripe green mango. One bite down, the sweet and sour taste is enough, the juice is a lot, very thirst-quenching, like a pineapple texture of the paramite. After eating, the mouth is slightly astringent, but it is only astringent in texture, and there is no sour or bitter taste. The red one is generally a little more sour than the yellow one, and has the sweet and sour taste of the apple.
And if you are satisfied after eating the fruit part and want to try the cashew on top of it, please be careful!
The cashew nuts are wrapped in a hard peel that is not only difficult to peel off but also rich in a variety of toxic substances, including cashew phenols. When you cut the seed coat, a liquid like milk or poppy juice flows out of it, which is as difficult to wash away as glue, and if it is accidentally touched in the mouth, it will cause burning pain like a very spicy pepper. And you waste half a day's effort to come up with a small cashew (the left is the complete seed, the right is the peeled fresh cashew):
Or go buy fried cashew nuts yourself and eat them...
4. Fruit & Cold Potato (Jicama)
(Two more added: In the comment area, I found that this cold potato seems to be also available in China, and the eating method is basically similar, and it is available in Hunan, Guizhou.) This seems to be my lonely and unheard of. Eating will not waste your reading time, look at the next one hehehe. ）
Many places in China have cold potatoes or sha ge, which is actually a bit similar to this. But this mexican and southern American food is much sweeter than cold potatoes, and it tastes like a white pear if blinded, with a little bit of water chestnut and a hint of potatoes.
Jicama also tastes like a combination of pear and water chestnut, making it ideal for raw food to replenish moisture. This is probably why in China, cold potatoes are mostly used to stir-fry shredded meat mixed with chili oil or something, while the jicama on the streets of the Caribbean countries is mostly cut into small pieces and sold with pineapple watermelon.
Recently, in Texas, I also learned from my Mexican friends to mix this thing in salads and eat it. Crispy and sweet in the salad to play the role of radish or cucumber, the effect is very good.
Finally, if you want to buy this thing in the United States, be sure to pick the white one that doesn't look very familiar. Because those yellowish in color are actually too ripe cold potatoes, the starch content will be high, and it is not only not sweet enough to eat but also mixed with the texture of potatoes.
5. Sweet Lemon/Ready-to-Eat Lemon (Limequat)
This is definitely one of the strangest fruits I've had in the U.S. lately. Limequat or limón dulce (sweet lime in Spanish) is the product of an artificial hybridization of lemons and citrus plants. This thing looks very similar to lemon, a little smaller than the average yellow lemon, and the color of the outer skin is between yellow and green, which is very beautiful. The texture of the cut is more like lime lime, the skin is very thin, and the flesh is the usual juice-filled radial shape of citrus. At first glance, nothing special seems.
But from the smell it's very peculiar. Unlike ordinary lemons and limes, sweet lemons have a hint of grapefruit-like scent, as well as a very unique aroma of essential oils, a bit like orange peel and a bit like fennel or fragrant leaves. And if you're brave enough to try a bite, you'll get a very sweet lemon flavor. Although it looks like a lemon, the flesh of this thing is not sour at all, it is not sour at all, and it is sweeter than any water-soluble C or even an orange. Because of this, I also gave it a name called "instant lemon" when I translated it, which is the literal meaning. If you like lemons, you must try this when you have the chance, and feel the feeling of biting down on lemons without acid teeth.
It just goes like this:
And sweet lemons, like ordinary lemons, are also very suitable for squeezing a squeeze of sparkling water. The effect has some of the coolness of yellow lemon, but more is different, the very sweet juice mixed into the water tastes more like a mixture of canned oranges and white melons, but also with a very peculiar floral fragrance, a bit like osmanthus flowers.
By the way, because this artificial variety has been quite popular in Europe and the United States over the years, everyone seems to be very keen on cultivating it, and some high-end supermarkets have also appeared in very good-looking and peculiar versions, although the taste is not much worse:
6. Honey Fruit/Spanish Lime (Mamoncillo)
Mamoncillo, more pronounced honey fruit or Spanish lime, is cultivated in Caribbean countries and the southern United States. Both the size and growth pattern are a bit like cinnamon balls. And although this fruit is rare and not easy to keep fresh, the price is not high, mostly around $2.
The core of the fruit is not small, the flesh is thinly attached to the outside of the core, if you ask the locals how to eat, they will tell you to eat like a lollipop.
The texture of the flesh is like a cut-off lychee, with a distinct hint of fiber, and its taste is often described as "somewhere between lychee and lime". The sweetness is not low, and there is a distinct taste of tropical fruits (such as mango or ripe pineapple). A little sour, like lime but not so sour, absolutely can be eaten directly. After eating, the taste will be a little sour, eating a dozen at a time is no problem, but it is recommended not to eat too much, otherwise the throat and mouth will feel obvious dryness, and there is a bit of reverse mystery fruit feeling, that is, after eating it, eating other things will also feel bitter (don't ask me how I know).
What's even more interesting is that the nucleus of this thing can also be eaten (yes, such a large nucleus occupies a lot of nutrients when it is about long). The general way to eat it is boiled or baked in the oven, like this:
The skin of the Spanish lemon core is very thin and can be opened directly with the nails. The nuts are plump, like fat peanuts, and taste more like a little salty chestnut, mixed with a hint of roasted corn and fried soybeans.
Dip some sugar and nourish!