Jun 01, 2010: Dragon Fruit

The strange and funky stuff that can be seen at Asian markets.

A couple years ago, I spotted this type of fruit at the local Asian supermarket. I didn't buy it at that time and figured I'd pick it up the next time around. I went back the following week and didn't see anymore.

Two years later... I finally found it again!

It is called "Pitaya" or "Dragon Fruit"

Funky egg looking thing is the fruit from a cactus that's about the size of my paring knife or a baseball.


Cutting into it... there's a thick rind with a whitish/grayish flesh speckled with black seeds.


The fruit scoops out easily.


The texture is similar to kiwi - smooth and crunchy with seeds. The flavor was kind of bland, slightly sweet, which reminded me of an unripe watermelon.


Apparently, the seeds are viable so I'll save a few to dry for planting. The weather is probably too cold, but it would be interesting to see the seeds do grow.

Jan 10: New Asian Market

A new Asian market opened in the former Mervyn's department store in Alderwood. My thought was this would be a gigantic store in the 77,000 square ft space.

H Mart is an Asian market specializing in Korean groceries.

The space was subdivided with the supermarket in the center. In the space is a food court with Chinese, Vietnamese pho, Korean Tofu Soup, a bakery and other food stalls being built. While I was there a new bank had a grand opening ceremony with a string quartet entertaining well wishers.


Walking through the market, I was hoping to find a larger deli section with hot foods. However, this Korean sausage caught my eye. I asked the clerk if it was beef and she said yes. Hmmm... okay... Looks interesting, I'll give it a try.


The sausage was mainly rice, a little onion, but where's the beef? I'm starting to suspect she didn't finish my sentence... it's beef... blood. I'm thinking this is a blood sausage, but I'm not sure since I can't read the label. Also included was a container of reddish salt - salt, sesame seeds and ground red chili peppers. The salt definitely helped the sausage. Overall, it was a little bland with a unique flavor. :-)