Dragon Fruit – Pitaya
Learn about this healthy exotic fruit, which can help with dieting – and coloring drinks
Commonly known as dragon fruit in America and Asia, the Central American fruits called pitaya or pitahaya are locally available in three main varieties: white interior with red and green exterior, white interior with yellow exterior, and red interior with red and green exterior. Around Lunar New Year, a fourth version appears locally – identical to the white interior with red and green exterior, but with bright yellow instead of red.
They’re all considered to be healthy fruits, with diet-assisting fiber and tiny edible seeds inside the pulpy flesh. While the white and red versions taste pretty much identical – lightly sweet with a slightly citric tang – the yellow version without green leaves is considerably sweeter than the others; the yellow version with green leaves tastes pretty much like the white one, but more fibrous.
Many cameras can’t do justice to the actual interior color of the red version, which in real life has purple tones that are apparently hard for devices to properly match. That color becomes clearer when red dragonfruit is used as a distinctive ingredient in drinks.
Although the flesh inside is always eaten, commonly tossed-out dragon fruit exteriors have other uses: The leaves can be used in salads, while the skins are beautiful enough to use as bowls for appetizer-sized portions of food, such as the tuna ceviche served as shown below.
In Orange County, 99 Ranch Market, H Mart, and Mercado Gonzalez Northgate are locally the best places to find all of these variants at affordable prices – the prices tend to be shockingly high at other supermarkets. TBaar in Buena Park is a great place to try it in drink form. You can also order fresh white-and-red dragon fruit, or fresh yellow dragon fruit for home delivery here, as well as freeze-dried dragon fruit that can be eaten as a delicious, marshmallow-like snack.