Asian Fruit Basket- Guava

One thing that has provided endless fascination in our 4 months in Asia is all the new crazy unidentifiable fruit! We have a 24-hour outdoor fruit market one block from our condo building and they have literally tons of fruit that we cannot name and haven't tried. We once bought a dragon fruit, because it looked cool, but quickly realized we weren't to sure on how to open it, so it quickly rotted in the tropical climate before we made serious efforts to crack that baby open. We have tried rambutan, which is tasty...and, well, that may be all so far. Due to some unusual fruit allergies, its difficult for me to be too crazy with my foreign fruit exploration, but I have decided to be more adventurous in trying out-of-the-ordinary fruits.

My recent trip to KL provided the perfect chance to get down to crazy fruit eating business.

I figured if they offer it at the Mandarin Oriental it was unlikely to kill me, and if it did try any funny business- I could get fabulous 5-star service on the way to the ER. Luckily for me, they thoughtfully provided a card explaining that a guava is related to the pear and apple, and as far as I know I am on good terms with the entire apple family. It turns out that the Mandarin may have not done their homework entirely because wikipedia informs me that the closest relative of the Guava is the pomegranate. Luckily I have never been treated poorly by one of those either. 

Now some of you are thinking "Guava- that's not *that* exotic." But I don't remember seeing too many Guavas at Whole Foods in Union Square and although I think its probably one of those hip-sounding ingredients that Snapple tries to throw in their drinks to make them sound exotic, I doubt too many of my US friends could pick a Guava out of a line up. 

This thing was BIG. 

But hey, it looks like a giant apple...and I like apples. So it's probably cool right? 

I was sincerely hoping it would be pink inside, a crazy deep pretty pink. But alas, its white. (Further wikipedia investigation proves that my hopes were not totally off base as *some* guavas are indeed radiantly pink in the middle- just not the one I got...) And it sort of tastes like an apple. You can eat the skin like an apple. Its a similar consistency. It was ... alright. Certainly not mind blowing. 

But it turns out that Guava is quite good for you, being rich in vitamin A & C with edible seeds high in omega-3s. So despite its underwhelming first taste we may have to consider further investigation. 

Pros: Yay for Vitamins! And doesn't have a ridiculously complicated exterior. 

Con: A little bit tasteless, maybe this one wasn't ripe yet. 

Rating: B 

Next time on Fruit Basket... Dragonfruit- how does one open one?