This week's photohunt theme is Juicy. I wasn't certain what I was going to do with this theme. I should have looked ahead and I would have had lots of opportunities to come up with something interesting while we were in Maui. But I didn't. So I looked through my cooking photos.
This year I purchased an ice cream maker. But instead of making ice cream, I have been making sorbet. I started with standard flavors like Lemon and strawberry but then moved to more exotic. I was shopping at my local Asian grocer - 99 Ranch - and saw some dragonfruit. Dragonfruit was my favorite fruit in Malaysia and the fruit is so beautiful to me. I can only find the white variety of Dragonfruit here in the US and it is not as sweet as the ones we had in Malaysia. But I thought it would make a very interesting sorbet.
The basic recipe for sorbet is to take a cup of juice or puree and mix with a cup of simple syrup. Most of the recipes I found called for just a few tablespoons of sugar but I increased it because the ones I had were not that sweet. I cut the dragonfruit and scooped out the pulp and pureed them in a blender. I mixed this with some simple syrup, froze it and voila - Dragonfruit sorbet. It is one of the prettiest sorbets. One thing to note - dragonfruit are *not* very juicy.
Whole dragonfruit
What they look cut in half - kinda like a white kiwi - also tastes similar
Juicing the pulp
The final product along with a couple of scoops of lime sorbet
Comments (9)
Hi Marta --
Interesting that you mentioned that dragonfruit were your favorite fruit in Malaysia. For one thing, this Malaysian first saw dragonfruit outside of Malaysia -- in Hong Kong! But, yeah, dragonfruit has indeed become quite the big deal in Malaysia -- and yes, the ones with the dark pink insides are the ones that are far sweeter than the regular ones with the white insides. :)
Posted by YTSL | November 19, 2010 7:06 PM
Posted on November 19, 2010 19:06
So that is what I ate aboard Cathay Pacific Airlines on the way to HongKong two summers ago. I was not sure what the dotted (inside) fruit was.
You are adventurous with your food. How great!
How was the Dragonfruit sorbet?
Posted by Eden | November 19, 2010 9:24 PM
Posted on November 19, 2010 21:24
Blogging introduced me to dragon fruit, never seen one!!
Happy hunting and happy weekend!
Posted by Mar | November 20, 2010 3:02 AM
Posted on November 20, 2010 03:02
What an interesting looking fruit, I have never heard of it before.
I am sure the sorbet was delicious :-)
Posted by CherryPie | November 20, 2010 5:03 AM
Posted on November 20, 2010 05:03
Interesting - never had dragonfruit - but looking at your photos thought the same thing - kiwi and wondered how it would taste. The sorbet looks delicious. Love this idea of making sorbet. Great take on this week's theme.
Posted by menehune | November 20, 2010 6:40 AM
Posted on November 20, 2010 06:40
YTSL -that is interesting that you did not taste it until HK.
The sorbet was very good. It did not have a strong flavor because the fruit was not that sweet. It is very subtle like a faint kiwi. But I love the crunch of the seeds.
Posted by Marta | November 20, 2010 8:18 AM
Posted on November 20, 2010 08:18
dragonfruis are very atractive. i've been seeing dragonfruit in the market for years before i finally decided to try it. i was a bit disappointed because it wasn't as tasty and sweet as i expected. your sorbet looks delicious!
Posted by Luna Miranda | November 20, 2010 9:18 AM
Posted on November 20, 2010 09:18
Wow...dragonfruit...very exotic, indeed. Great shots!
Posted by Janice | November 20, 2010 9:44 AM
Posted on November 20, 2010 09:44
Good to know that the pink ones are sweeter. Whole Foods sells both the white and the pink ones here. Will have to give the pink one a try. Great choice of photos for the theme!
Posted by girasoli | November 28, 2010 10:19 PM
Posted on November 28, 2010 22:19