Fruits: Challenge to Winter Dry
Winter usually arrives in early or mid-December. But this time Shanghai may have stepped into its earliest winter for about 10 years, based on the weather experts. Although rain will prevail in the city this week, you still could feel dry on your kin and in your body, for winter air and artificial heat sources can wreak havoc on your hair and skin, causing dryness and discomfort. How to tackle them? Market fruits will be your next choice, full of colour, rich in nutrients.
Asian Pear
About
The Asian pear is a round yellow-brown or golden fruit with a shape and texture similar to that of an apple (though generally a bit larger). Certified Organic varieties tend to have the lowest yield because there are fewer organic pesticides that can safely eliminate diseases and blights such as fungus.
Selecting
Select the most fragrant and un-bruised fruit with little or no brown spots. Ripe Asian pears are hardly softened. They are ready to eat when purchased because unlike other pears, Asian pears are picked ripe and have a long shelf life of a few weeks.
Storing
Asian pears can be stored for several weeks when stored in a cool, dry place.
Using
This pear is generally served raw and peeled or in salads, such as the Asian pear salad with lemon dressing. It is rarely baked in pies or made into jams because of its high water content and its crisp grainy texture.
Nutrition
These pears are a healthy and fat free source of dietary fiber and vitamin C at only 50 calories for a hefty 122g piece, which is a good alternative in the diet.
Fast Fact
In the 1800s people were willing to pay over US$20 for just one pear because they were so rare and delicious.
Dragon Fruit
About
The sweet fruit is encased by a leathery pink or yellow skin. The flesh can either be deep magenta or white with kiwi-like seeds scattered throughout which add a nice crunch. In addition to being tasty and refreshing, this beautiful fruit boasts of a lot of water and other vital minerals with varied nutritional ingredients.
Selecting
Dragon fruit should touch slightly soft but not mushy. Simply look for full-formed, full-colored fruits which are free from any moldy or bruised spots.
Storing
The skin is durable, but the fruit should be handeld with care as the flesh is quite soft. You can store dragon fruit in refrigerators, unwashed for up to five days.
Using
Dragon fruit is refreshing and sweet and is best eaten raw by cutting fruit vertically in two halves and scooping out the juicy flesh. Dragon fruit is a delicious addition to fruit juices, fruit salads, jams or added to alcoholic beverages. In Taiwan, dragon fruit is used by diabetics as a substitute food for rice and to enhance the fiber content of the diet.
Nutrition
Dragon fruit is a good source of anti-oxidants, calcium, vitamin C, minerals and fiber. Due to its vital nutrients, the dragon fruit is a popular candidate for diets as it supplements dietary fiber which has laxative properties and cleansing for the liver. Similarly, people who have high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity have attested to the fruit’s effectiveness.
Fast Fact
The Dragon fruit flower must be pollinated in order for fruit to form. However, Dragon fruit flowers bloom only at night and usually only live for one night, making the chances of flowers forming fruits literally once in a lifetime. Unlike most flowers, cacti flowers must be pollinated by nocturnal animals such as bats and moths.
Longan
About
Longan, literally meaning “dragon eye”, is a light-brown shelled fruit about 3 cm (1 inch) in diameter with an opaque-white tender flesh and a hard, black. Longans are extremely sweet, juicy and succulent.
Selecting
Shells should be a homogenous sandy-brown color and slightly soft to the touch. The shell is bark-like and thin making the fruit easy to shell by squeezing the fruit as if one is cracking a sunflower seed.
Using
Longans are often eaten fresh or dried, as a dessert, snack, or added to salads, desserts and soups. Longan syrup can also be found in many Asian supermarkets.
Storing
Despite their shells, longans are a delicate fruit and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Be sure to not to let the longans to get wet as this may accelerate their expiration. Dried longans can keep until their expiration date.
Nutrition
Longans are a sweet source of calcium, protein, niacin and vitamins A, B1 and B2, which will enhance your sleep quality, memory nourish your blood.
Fast Fact
The Chinese name for longan literally means “dragon eye” because of the fruit’s resemblance to an eyeball when half of the longan is unshelled.
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