In the past I have had the luck to eat sweet tasting Dragon Fruit.

However, trying to describe the taste would be quite hard. I would like to say that it tasted like a sweetish Kiwi, but I have never tasted a sweet Kiwi before, so that comparison is not quite right.

Like most fruits, if you let them ripen away from the chill of a fridge, the flavour develops more, though the texture becomes kind of slushy, which is not good for food presentation.

I simply adore the fruits you mentioned and will sit down with the rest of the team and see if we can come up with other fruits you should try.

I am sure that you will enjoy yourslef in Laos. If you can, try to visit the Makphet Restaurant in Vientiane.

http://laocook.com/index.php?s=makphet

:)

Perhaps owing to how it is grown and sold, I’ve never actually had a dragonfruit worth eating.  I’ve only had (fresh) the white fleshed variety.  The red fleshed variety is supposed to be a little more flavorful.  The fresh white ones I’ve had have all been almost entirely flavorless- a pretty huge letdown compaired to durian, mangosteen, santol, salak,….  A Thai friend told me he too has never had one with much flavor, a friend in Florida has the actual cactus and says his are decent (but he probably lets them fully ripen).  Both red and white dragonfruit are Hylocereus undatus, I’ve had Selenicereus megalanthus (sometimes called “yellow dragonfruit” though I don’t think it is grown in Asia) which does have a nice mild-moderate sweet flavor (sweet and floral).  Some might find it bland, but I’d never pass one up.  In contrast, I’m not going to spend another dime on the standard “dragonfruit”.

The passionfruit you picture (one of many edible species and varieties) is I think the standard purple P. edulis.  I believe they develop full flavor if you let the outer rind turn brown and wrinkle up slightly.  It is also a new world fruit.  Not all passiflora have edible fruits but there are a number with edible pulp and they have a whole range of flavors.

I’m going to be in Laos around New Years and hope to try lots of odd S E Asian fruits (not just common ones like durian, but also ones that are less common and that I’ve never tried before).  If you have tips on odd Laos fruits (relatives of mangosteen, Litsea species, Baccurea species, Salak species…) like what they are called and when they are in season I’d like that.

We are located in the province of Cádiz, in the southern part of Spain. Our restaurant is based in a 5 Star hotel and golf resort.

http://www.fairplaygolfhotel.com

We havent done a post about Goi Paa, but seeing as you have mentioned, we will definately make one in the future.

;)

I had them once and don’t recall them being very flavorful or tasty.

Whenever I go to Laos, I just cannot stop eating dragon fruits and mangosteens. Luckily, I may return on Christmas :-)

Cheers.

Panya