One of the things that amazes me is the variety of fruit that grows in Taiwan. I've always been more of a vegetable eater but here I am all over the fruit. I go to the local markets at least once a week and the choices are colorful and exotic. I often don't know what I'm buying but I get it anyway to try it out.
Here are dragon fruits. They don't look like something you would want to eat but they are delicious.
You would never think you'd find this inside but I would compare it to a kiwi in texture and flavor but less sweet. A lot of what Taiwanese eat as fruit isn't very sweet.
This green "apple" is no apple. I bought a whole bunch of these thinking they were going to be sour green apples but they are called jujube. These are the actual fruit that make dates! They are crisp, light and slightly sweet and tart at the same time. Who knew!? I would have never guessed that dates come from something like this!
The watermelons here are art. Look at this! You get yellow melons during one part of the year and then you get red ones after that. Watermelon juice is sold in all of the markets and I get one every time.
My new favorite (other than guava) is the wax apple. I have never seen these before and from what I hear, one variety (the black pearl) is only grown in Taiwan. These are crisp, fresh and sweet. I imagine they don't travel well so that's why I haven't seen these anywhere outside of Taiwan. I can buy about 10 of these for just over $1.
These funky things are sugar apples, called buddha's head here in Taiwan. When I first bought one of these I had no idea what to do. I just cut it open and went for it. The insides are creamy and custardy and filled with seeds. You just take a spoon and go for it. The taste is a bit like pineapple.
I wish I could pack a bunch of these up and transport them back to the states with me. People will just have to visit so they can taste them for themselves. ;-)
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