DRAGON FRUIT (Red Flesh)

Common Name: Dragon fruit (Red flesh)
Vernacular Name: Pitaya, Pitahaya, Strawberry pear, huǒ lóng guǒ, Buah naga, Thanh long
Botanical Name: Hylocereus coastaricensis [ex-Hylocereus polyrhizus]
Specimens From: Malaysia

Dragon fruit. Why would they called a fruit, a dragon? If you had seen the plant, you would understand why. It really does looks like a wild dragon, with lots of messy overflowing branches, similar to the dragon wings, scales or hairs. The fruit itself does looks like one too. This fruit originated from northern South America.

The red dragon is here! It is one of the three main species of dragon fruit. It has red skin with red flesh. The other two is the red skin/white flesh and the least common, yellow skin/white flesh. There are also various cultivars of dragon fruit and since they do look alike to a layman, I will just put them under their colour classifications.

Do not mix up with another fruit, "Sour Pitayas" of the same "Cactus" family but of a different species, "Stenocereus spp". The inside pulp look very similar red but it is much more sourish in taste and the exterior look is different with numerous small spines!

The red dragon fruit is a beautiful fruit and pretty attractive to look at, especially the maroon flesh. Just cut the fruit into half and scoop it with a spoon. Taste is only mildly sweet, quite similar to eating a green kiwifruit. The numerous small, black seeds are edible and crunchy, so don't bother spitting it out.

Red Dragon Fruit Juice

 If you prefer, you can drink it as a juice but it is slightly thick, similar to papaya juice. Juice it into a clear glass and it will looks like a glass of "sweet Bloody Mary with numerous black heads".


Fruit: Red Dragon Fruit ; Hylocereus polyrhizus ; Cactaceae.


Other fruit in the same family: Dragon Fruit[white flesh].


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