The fruits of this weekend's chinatown excursion

15 years ago

Notice the brilliant pun in the title. I found jakfruit in china town. a seller had about two thirds of a jakfruit cut into two pieces. The smaller piece weighed about 8 pounds. I had him cut the smaller piece in half. He was charging $4 a pound. I had to try some as I have never tried jakfruit before. He claimed it was fresh and not previously frozen but im not sure he was telling the truth. The seller said it was imported from Jamaica. The segments tasted exactly like juicy fruit gum and even had a very similar consistency. The segments were pretty dry though. I was expecting them to be juicy? Are jackfruit pretty dry? or did i just taste a bad sample or a previously frozen sample. all in all it was not bad at all but i wouldnt buy it again. I will definitly try and buy some jackfruit in miami to see if the fresher fruit is better.

I also got to taste a jambu for the first time. tasted like a really bland asian pear- and in my opinion asian pears are very bland to start off with. definitly wont be buying jambu again.

needless to say, i ended the excursion off with a stop at my favorite lychee seller and bought 12 punds! (in fairness, 3 were for my brother).

this time, i managed to spy the lychee boxes- they did not specify the variety but they did provide the name of the grower- Hendrix farms in Homestead, FL (see web link at bottom of post after pics). I took down the phone number just in case (just in case what? im not really sure). The lychee seller promised to get some mangosteen for me this week- she said she could get some at $9 a pound. Done done and done. I gave her my number- we'll see if she comes good.

Lychee season is clearly at its peak now as every second person in china town had a little lychee stall

Here is a link that might be useful: list of florida tropical fruit suppliers

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Comments (12)

ohiojay
15 years ago
Man, just looking at that wedge of jak makes me believe that it was previously frozen. Maybe not, but that doesn't look all that good.

As I mentioned in an email, a lot of Asians pick their fruit before they are ripe..especially the jambus. They won't be real real sweet, but there should be some to it and it will be refreshing.

Maybe we should have a forum gambling hall here and all take bets whether or LL gets fresh or frozen mangosteens!!
ch3rri
15 years ago
lycheeluva,

I think the jakfruit is fresh....because if you put the whole fruit in the freezer and then let it sit in room temperature the meat is somewhat soggy and watery...have a weird taste to it. I bought a lot of them here in PA Asian supermarket. They were originally $1.99/lb for the whole fruit and $2.99/lb if they cut in smaller pieces. The whole fruit could be anywhere from 30-40 or more pounds. Now they are selling them for $2.49/lb so I stop buying them. You got to know how to buy them or you could get an unripe fruit which is a waste of money. If it's ripe, it should be sweet, a bit chewy, and you can smell the aroma. Some could be juicy if overripe... Also, it depends on variety...not all meat is juicy. Some meat are white (not good), yellow, or orange. I think the darker yellow and orange taste the best. Also, if you find the meat not ripe enough, you can put it in a plastic bag and leave it for another day or so and it will ripe further. Hope this help.
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erict
15 years ago
Thanks for the info. I have now tasted the first *fresh* lychees and MANGOSTEEN in my entire life. Likely not the last.
lycheeluva
Original Author
15 years ago
eric- where did you get the mangosteen from?
gcmastiffs
15 years ago
The Jackfruits I have tasted looked yellow/orange inside, were juicy and the meaty bits were tender. Excalibur Rare Fruit trees has lots of bearing trees, so it is quite common for them to have fresh fruit available. They did say some varieties are soft, and others crunchy, but I've forgotten which ones.

My poor trees are suffering in this drought. Only the Bangkok Lemon variety looks good.

Lisa
lycheeluva
Original Author
15 years ago
ahem lisa- mouthwatering persian limes...
erict
15 years ago
>lycheeluva

Map and all!

Here is a link that might be useful: Atlanta Farmer's Market
erict
15 years ago
A pic!

It is indeed better than any fruit I've ever had. It helps that it's a new taste that can't be compared well to other foods, as it seems to a have a unique chemical make up. Indeed, the xanthones found in the pulp are a good hint.

(The purple shell is pressed to get the juice for the MangoXan "health" drink. Which is light-years less tasty than the fruit)
ohiojay
15 years ago
That looks much better than what I've been hearing about the "fresh" mangosteens lately. The shell doesn't look all that hard and brittle. The flesh looks paper white, full, and unblemished. Very very nice. What were they per pound??
lycheeluva
Original Author
15 years ago
interesting eric. when i was conned and sold frozen mangosteen in china town, they also came in a yellow net bag. but my fruit looked totally different to yours once opened. the fruit i got were all purple and brown inside.

interesting that the fresh mangosteen are also sold in yellow net bags
gcmastiffs
15 years ago
Lycheeluva, just got back from vacation in "heaven" aka Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Prettiest place on earth!!!!

I'll get your package out to you this week. Local Garden Web pals watered all my plants while we were away, thank goodness!

Please email me with other items you are interested in. My mind is still in the mountains(G).

Lisa
lycheeluva
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks Lisa. You are an angel.

The fruits of this weekend's chinatown excursion

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The fruits of this weekend's chinatown excursion

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