APPEARANCE 
Fuchsia body with leaf shaped flaps that fade to green, the inside is white with tiny black seeds; reminds me of a cross between a shiny zebra and a poppy seed muffin. Also it is quite big – the size of a small nerf football.
AROMA 
Cucumbers!
TEXTURE 
Juicy and grainy with crunchy little seeds; similar to a cucumber but with more seeds and a little more snap to the bite.
TASTE
Reminds me of bland melon and kiwi and cucumber, but with a slightly sour note.
OVERALL
I’m not a fan of this fruit and I keep making faces every time I take a bite in order to describe some aspect of it. I had a bit of a red-fleshed variety at a potluck a few months ago and I remember thinking I liked it and wanted to look for it. So maybe this just isn’t a good one or maybe I was just feeling festive that day. I will say that this fruit is absolutely visually stunning and I really do wish I was throwing a party tonight with this fruit as the centerpiece. Oh how my friends would be jealous of me.
FRUIT
Red Pitaya
VARIETY
Unknown
PEAK
Unknown
ORIGIN
Unknown
GROWN
Unknown
PURCHASED
Asian Market
NOTES
This fruit is also called Strawberry Pear. You can see some gorgeous pictures of the plant (it grows on a cactus) here.
RECIPES
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Susanna Dilliott // Dec 21, 2009 at 11:35 pm
I just returned from two years in China where I ate dragon fruit several times. To me the fruit has a taste of honey, but it is a faint taste of honey. The real reason to buy the fruit is because it is so pretty! By the way, one of the expat grocery stores in Shanghai calls this a Fire Dragon Fruit which is the English translation of the Chinese name (huǒlóngguǒ).
emi // Dec 22, 2009 at 5:15 am
I’m glad you tried it! I’m so curious about it and now I know. What a great blog!
Fruit Maven // Dec 22, 2009 at 8:29 am
Susanna – Ohh! I love the name Fire Dragon Fruit. So sexy.
Emi – Thanks!!! You should definitely try it.
Chan // Jan 5, 2010 at 3:15 am
Hi, your blog is great, I’m a regular visitor since a friend showed it to me.
Your impressions about it are very similar to mine.
I have tried a white-fleshed Pitaya once and I didn’t liked it, the flavor is too “green” and the texture is too slimy, but I took several pictures of this amazing looking fruit.
After I complained about it to a friend, he told me that the red-fleshed Pitayas are sweeter and tastes a lot better than the white ones. But you almost can’t tell if is a red or white Pitaya from the outside, so I just have given up on this overcomplicated fruit.
Fruit Maven // Jan 5, 2010 at 8:41 am
Chan – If I discover some way of being able to tell what color the flesh will be inside, I’ll let you know. I am also keenly interested in trying the one that is yellow outside and white inside. Fun stuff!