8 of our favourite tropical fruit

We’ve had the privilege of spending time on Maui a few years in a row and had the opportunity to eat and cook many different types of tropical fruit. Some we were already familiar with, others were new to us. You will recognize some of these, and hopefully you’ll learn about a few new fruit to look for at your local grocer.

– Lychee

Translated from Chinese as ‘gift for a joyful life’. The lychee fruit has been enjoyed for centuries by natives of southeast Asia.
You might know it as the syrupy translucent ball that comes out of a can but that doesn’t compare with fresh lychee.
A fruit high in vitamin C, eating lychee can help fight colds and sore throats and helps with digestion. It also contains phosphorous, calcium, magnesium and protein.

Eating: Lychee can be used in ice cream, jams, jellies, marmalades and Asian sauces. Its juice is often used in cocktails. The real treat is eating them fresh from their bumpy bright red husks.

– Sapote

I remember the first time I heard of sapote, we were at a market and the vendor was selling chocolate sapote. I love chocolate and I figured eating a fruit that tastes like chocolate is probably a healthier option than eating the real thing. In fact, the dark brown, almost black flesh didn’t taste like chocolate at all. In fact it barely had any taste at all. Since then we’ve tried many different sapote, the only one that we enjoyed was one that tasted of brown sugar. The Mamae Sapote was also quite good eaten at the height of ripeness, it tasted like pumpkin or sweet potato pie.

Eating: Sapote can be eaten fresh or frozen and thawed by cutting in half and scooping out the flesh. It can also be cooked into confections like pies, cakes or bread.

– Breadfruit, or Ulu in Hawaiian

An amazing fruit that has been grown for centuries in Polynesia and other tropical climates. Yielding over a hundred volleyball sized fruit, it is extremely hardy and an exceptional crop, producing edible fruit throughout its ripening process. The greener breadfruit can be cooked & eaten and have a similar taste to artichoke. Then as the breadfruit ripens it gets sweeter and softer. Whole breadfruit roasted in the imu pit is a standard and gives off a wonderful smell of fresh baked bread when you cut into it.

Eating: This is not a fruit you would eat raw and will require cooking. There are hundreds of breadfruit recipes like chips & curries and chef’s can get creative substituting breadfruit for potatoes in many dishes. Ripe breadfruit can also make fantastic desserts like Nat’s famous ulu doughnuts

– Acerola cherry

Aka Acerolla, Barbados cherry or wild crapemyrtle is native to the West Indies and northern South America and is now being cultivated in India. It is a bright red fruit with 2 to 3 seeds, its bushy tree measures 3 to 4 meters high at maturity
Acerola cherries are known for their astringent properties and are thought to treat dysentery and fever. It is somewhat of a super fruit and antioxidant, with 65 times more vitamin C than an orange.
It contains anthocyanins, a powerful anti-inflammatory, so eating an acerola cherry can be as effective as taking aspirin when you have a headache.

Eating: Acerola cherries are a bit of a pain to pit but they have a sweet, tart taste that would cut the sweetness of a mixed berry crisp. Add their juice to cocktails or mix a bit with Prosecco for a delicious aperitif.

– Avocado

Avocado is considered a fruit and part of the flowering plant family Lauraceae, same as cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel. The Hass avocado is the most popular but some people would be surprised to know that there are between 500 and 1000 different varieties of avocado around the world. 

Eating: Yes it’s a fruit and not surprisingly, it’s delicious in desserts like creme brûlée and chocolate cake. Most are familiar with them mashed into guacamole or on a California roll but my favourite way is spread like butter on a hot toasted bagel with a bit of salt.

– Mango

Most people have heard of a mango before, the varieties we’re most familiar with are the Atulfo (small with yellow skin and yellow flesh) and Haden (a bit bigger with red and yellow skin and yellow flesh).
On Maui, the one you will see most often being sold is the Haden. You will also see what they call field mangos. You know the smell of vomit and fermentation you sometimes smell when driving the road to Hana? Those are field mangos that have fallen on the road and rotted. They are edible but they are small and usually stringy.
When they are at peak ripeness the Haden mangos are juicy and the flesh, sweet and easy to cut without falling apart or being crushed by the pressure of a knife.

Eating: They are most often eaten ripe, on their own or in dessert preparations. You can also use them green in green mango salad and other savoury dishes and condiments such as chutney.

– Guava

Most of you have seen a common yellow skinned guava, you can find them in the exotic fruit section at the supermarket. They are usually on the verge of being inedible and always overpriced.
There are many types of guava, apple guava, strawberry guava and pineapple guava are some you may want to try if you have a chance.
Guavas are cultivated in tropical and subtropical countries, they originated in Central America and were distributed throughout tropical America and the Caribbean.
Guava characteristics vary quite a bit between species from the thickness and colour of the skin (yellow, maroon or green and varying thicknesses) to the taste and colour of the pulp inside (sour or sweet, whitish to deep pink).

Eating: In Hawaii, guava juice is mixed with orange and passion fruit juice to make POG . The entire fruit can be eaten and is used in drinks, jams, jellies and many recipes.

– Jackfruit

From the fig and mulberry family, jackfruit is native to South and South East Asia. It is said that jackfruit was the inspiration for juicy fruit gum and you’ll know why when you bite into a ripe piece of the orangey fruit. Think pineapple, banana, apple with a twist. A good source of dietary fiber, archeological findings revealed that jackfruit was cultivated in India 3000 to 6000 years ago.

Eating: Ripe, it’s good in sauces, smoothies and other desserts. Unripe jackfruit is often used in curries and can also be slow cooked to give it the consistency of pulled pork. Jackfruit seeds can be cooked until soft and then puréed into a wonderful hummus.

There are so many more fruit we tried this summer, we might need to write another post. Which fruit on this list have you tried and how did you prepare them?