Pitahaya is a dragon fruit. Video
Pitahaya is also called pitahaya or dragon fruit. It is a cactus fruit with a bright skin, sharp outgrowths and a fragrant, sweet pulp, somewhat similar to the pulp of a kiwi. The pitahaya fruit is low in calories but high in nutrients such as phosphorus, calcium, vitamin C, antioxidants, and dietary fiber.
Choose fruits with bright skin and no blemishes. A pale skin of the fruit indicates that it is unripe, specks on the skin are a sign of an overripe fruit. Press gently with your finger on the pitahaya, it should give in slightly. Overripe fruits are too soft, unripe fruits are hard. The tips of the growths on a ripe, fresh pitahaya should be yellowish-green, in no case dry, withered. If you do buy an overripe fruit, try growing a whole pitahaya from its seeds. This cactus can be easily cultivated at home.
Pitahaya also contains B vitamins – thiamine, niacin, B12
How to eat whole pitahaya
Rinse the fruit under running water and dry gently with a paper kitchen towel. Place the pitahaya on a cutting board and cut in half lengthwise, exactly in the middle. The blade will cut through the skin quite easily.
The heart of the fruit will be either white or red with numerous small poppy-like seeds. You can take out the pulp with just a tablespoon, do not forget to remove the slightest particles of the rind from it – it is inedible. Cut the pitahaya into cubes. You can serve slices of pitahaya in peeled halves of the peel or put in a bowl.
To compensate for the sweetness of the pitahaya, some pour lemon juice on the pulp.
Recipes for using pitahaya
Many dessert dishes and sweet drinks can be prepared from the pulp of pitahaya. Try the pitahaya sorbet, for its preparation you will need: – 2 pitahaya fruits; – ¾ cups of cold filtered water; – 1 tablespoon of lemon juice; – 2 tablespoons of cane sugar.
Cut open the fruit and remove the pulp, place it in the bowl of a food processor, add water, lemon juice, sugar and chop until smooth. Freeze it until ice crystals form. Serve the sorbet in the rind cups.
Make a pitahaya alcoholic cocktail. Take: – 1 ripe pitahaya fruit; – ½ cup of vodka; – 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lime juice; – 2 tablespoons of sugar; – ¼ cup of coconut milk.
Take out the pulp from the pitahaya, grind it in a blender, put it in a shaker, add freshly squeezed juice, sugar, vodka and coconut milk. Mix together and serve with a few ice cubes.
In addition to alcoholic beverages, many healthy smoothies and cocktails can be prepared with a low-calorie pitahaya rich in various substances by mixing the pulp with yogurt, cow, soy or almond milk, apple or grape juice.