The Amazing (& Delicious) Dragon Fruit

I moved here and was convinced by the phrase "sub-tropical environment" that I would be eating mangoes and papayas and all manner of delicious fruit all the time. But that's just not the case.

The soil of Okinawa just isn't that rich and the fresh water supply is not that consistent, apparently. So, the farmers have taken a very conservative approach to cultivating new crops: stick with what we know works-kind of thinking.

So, while mangoes do in fact grow here, they are quite expensive (like $60!) because they can be sold to the mainlanders on export very profitably.

What does grow here that is delicious and this summer is cheap and everywhere is the dragonfruit:

You split them down the middle to reveal something that looks like a beat and a potato with lots of seeds and super juicy:

cut this in half (so you've quartered the dragonfruit) and you should find that you can basically peel the fruit out of it's skin:

then dig in! Be aware that these things will stain so maybe use a utensil:


I'd been seeing what I thought were just enormous cacti in everyone's gardens this spring but now I know that they are the source of this delicious fruit:

all's I can say is おいしいそう! (oishii so, it looks delicious!)