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Our first taste of Soursop

1/18/2012

12 Comments

 
Have you tried soursop?  We hadn't.  We hadn't even seen one before until our friend Debra bought one.  We were game to play too, so we picked up one of these odd looking, prickly, green fruit at Maria's fruit and vegetable stand on Monday.  We had no idea what to expect, and after some diligent googling, I still wasn't too sure if eating it unadorned would be okay.  Most sites I visited mentioned soursop juice, soursop smoothies, soursop ice cream.  But I wanted to keep it simple and try the fruit au naturel first. Supposedly it is ripe when soft to pressure, so last night was the night to give it a try.
Picture
Here is what it looked like cut in half.  
Picture
The skin is inedible, so I started scraping out the pulp with a grapefruit spoon and removing the rather numerous black seeds on the cutting board as I went.  Some sites I'd checked said that these were toxic, but it was a bit difficult to make sure I'd gotten them all.  The fruit was both fibrous and mushy (perhaps it was slightly overripe, actually?), so a little hard to work with.  I basically had to get my hands in there and feel for the seeds, then cut around them with a knife and pick them out by hand.  This is not what I'd call an exceptionally easy fruit to prepare, but it wasn't any worse than a mango, for instance, which requires cutting carefully around a large center pit.  I make Barry do that!

When all was said and done, I ended up with a bowl of off-white custardy mush that looked like a cross between mashed bananas and steamed won-tons.  Not super appetizing in appearance, but the fragrance was tropical fruity, musky, and nice.  Still, it took a bit of courage to take that first bite.
Picture
I tried it first.  It tasted better than it looked.  It was definitely sour, but sweet enough as well.  It tasted kind of like an combination of pineapple and banana, with a hint of cantaloupe.  The texture was both fibrous and mushy, not completely appealing, so I can see why it's normally used more in recipes than on its own.  Still, not bad.  We ate about half of it and saved the second half to throw into a fruit smoothie today.  

Would I buy it again?  The jury is still out.  It's definitely a nutrional powerhouse, containing a variety of vitamins and minerals, and is low in calories.  It may even help in the treatment of cancer.  Here are some additional resources if you want to learn more about this exotic fruit:
  • The Health Benefits of Soursop
  • Can Soursop cure cancer?
  • How to make Soursop ice cream
12 Comments
David Christmas
1/18/2012 07:32:53 am

hmm looking at the pics, if it were me, I would give the second half to Barry with a fall-back plan to treat Paisley...

Reply
BeBelize Emily
1/18/2012 10:27:34 am

Hi David! It was actually really good in our tropical fruit smoothies today.

Reply
Debra Milstead link
1/18/2012 10:34:24 am

I am still debating whether I would buy this fruit again. It was definitely better than it looked..but was a lot of work.

Reply
BeBelize Emily
1/18/2012 10:50:37 am

I agree, Debra. It was also a little pricey. She (the daughter) was going to charge me $9 BZD, but when I balked, Jose said $5. We are regular customers so he sometimes cuts us a little break. :)

Reply
Surendra
1/18/2012 11:30:55 am

I grew up eating this fruit back home in India. It was never sour though. I remember them being sweet. I have seen these here but did not remember what they were till I saw the picture of it cut open. I will pick one up and try it next day or two.We did pick up some ripe mangoes today.at our regular stand.

Reply
BeBelize Emily
1/18/2012 11:51:04 am

Interesting that it was not sour at all for you, Surendra, considering the name. It was kind of a sweet and sour taste to me. I like fruit with tartness to it, which is one reason I wasn't enamoured of sapodilla -- it tasted entirely sweet with no tartness to me. NOW, where did you get the mangos? We love them and haven't seen any at the stands since the fall. Share your secret...please! :)

Reply
Surendra
1/18/2012 09:48:34 pm

We buy our vegetables at P and R. Orlando and Rosie run it. I think most of what they do is sell to Resorts and Restuarants. He has hisown boat and brings his stuff from Corazol on tuesdays and thursdays. Turn right at Ritchies and make the first right again and he is on the right in a small building. We found Maria's prIces are way more than Orlando's.

Reply
BeBelize Emily
1/19/2012 02:48:22 am

Thanks Surendra! We found P & R today and stopped in and bought a few things, including two little mangos. He told us he gets fresh veg/fruit every Tuesday -- he did not mention Thurs. He was delighted when I told him you recommended him. He had some things Maria's doesn't, and vice versa, so we'll add him to our town rounds. Again, thanks for the tip!

Reply
genessa
3/8/2012 01:32:36 am

eat it like a watermelon..wash the skin well, cut it in medium sized parts (with the skin) bite the white flesh off the skin then spit out the seed, you can either just chew or swallow the white flesh that is how we eat it in the philippines. it is ripe for eating when it is soft and mushy but not too much. the perfect taste is the right blend of sweetness and sourness. it is quite expensive than other tropical fruits here in my country.

Reply
BeBelize Emily
3/9/2012 03:37:26 am

Thanks for the information, Genessa! That sounds easier than what we did. We might give them a try again next time they are in season here, but they were more expensive here also than most other tropical fruits. The flavor was good, but I guess it takes time to get used to new flavors sometimes. Nice to know that someone from so far away is reading our blog -- thanks for stopping by!

Reply
Wednesday
2/12/2013 05:32:22 am

The fruit also kills cancer better then chemo could ever do. It is an amazing fruit.

Reply
Gaurav
5/23/2013 09:48:39 pm

Hi, even I agree that Soursop has various Medical and Health benefits. As more people are becoming aware of the health benefits of Soursop, the fruit sellers are taking advantage of them by selling the fruit at enormously high prices! But I bought Soursop Juice from SVA India(Mumbai) at a very economical cost, they are very friendly and reachable. You can also contact them on + (91)-(22)-22886789/98 if you are interested in buying the fruit/Juice/Tea/Leaves.
https://www.facebook.com/indiasoursop

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    Emily & Barry

    We're an adventurous couple, married 27 years, who decided to move to Ambergris Caye, Belize from Chapel Hill, North Carolina for retirement.  We built a condo on the beach  north of San Pedro Town and moved in with our Boston Terrier Paisley in August 2011 and lived there until March 2013.  Ultimately, we decided to return to the US, but we have no regrets and MANY good memories of our time in Belize.  We hope our blog might prove helpful to anyone interested in this lovely country.

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