Dragon Fruit

Food, Glorious Food

This month's entries will feature my food reviews using the Michelin system which rates culinary merit, as follows: * - Good, ** - Very good, *** - Exceptional.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DRAGON FRUIT

Floating Market: Damnoen Saduak, Thailand

Value: 34.4 Thai Baht per single fruit (approx $.99)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The floating market in Damnoen Saduak is crowded with hundreds of vendors paddling along the narrow klong canal. Everywhere is a hodgepodge of delights. 

From the kitchens located right on the boats, I smell the rich aroma of coriander and dried chilies frying in red palm oil. A row of marinated chickens is sizzling from the intense heat of a grill in a long-tailed boat nearby. Poised on the upper edge of the boat's side, a vendor in red bandanna has stood up to offer a taste of mango sticky rice and sweet rolled sesame pancakes that he's holding in both hands like a Wise Man bearing a precious gift. I crack a smile, grinning at him with excited courtesy and pleasure.

As a flotilla of vessels docks by the concrete ledge where we're standing, I raise my eyes to the sun, tilting my head for a closer look. The wooden boats are loaded impossibly high with an assortment of plump rambutan, mangosteen, durian and other tropical fruits. I lift a fragrant mango and my fingers dent its yellow skin. The meek vendor, hovering close by, gives me an amiable nod. It's ripe alright, she seems to say. After nodding back at her, I gingerly move on. 

Behind a fruit stand, a woman with a bright orange head scarf is presiding over a pyramid of rosy fruits that look odd, yet so impossibly attractive and  seductive. The fruit has the hybrid look of a hot pink, thorny-skinned jackfruit and the magenta flower of the saguaro cactus. Shaped like a small football, its exterior has scale-like succulent leaves that are tipped in green. 

I must have shown a bewildered look of fascination mixed with curiosity because she quickly identifies it for me. Pitaya! Dragon fruit! She's glowing with a sort of triumph, like a game-show hostess who has just bestowed a prize. 

According to legend, this fruit, also known as strawberry pear, was created by the fire-breathing mythical creature itself. During a battle when the dragon would breathe fire, the last thing to come out would be the fruit. After the dragon was slain, the fruit would be collected and presented to the Emperor as a coveted treasure and indication of victory. 

With interest, I break open the strange-looking fruit. Its edible, white interior flesh is dotted throughout with tiny, black seeds. 

I bite into its spongy pulp, firm and only slightly juicy like that of a pear or a not-quite-ripe melon. Sucking into it until it is squashed and empty, I note its surprisingly bland flavor. I'd expected something stronger and more pungent. At best, I'd say it tastes like a subtly zesty radish but otherwise, it tastes just like a pockmarked, pale nothing.

It hasn't made a dent in my appetite. I hold my breath and push it aside.

The fruit costs just about a dollar and is therefore a cheap buy, but I'd rank it more as a showpiece rather than the kind of fruit I'd like to be snacking on while floating along the canal of the Thai river.

My Review: Sorry, beautiful on a platter, but no stars... - Not exceptional