Rambutan Exotic Asian Fruit

Today, I went to my favorite Korean grocery store which carries an extensive array of fresh Asian vegetables and fruits from Korea, Japan, Vietnam and China.  On display as samples for tasting, there were several offerings of fresh fruit; clementines, Korean melons and other exotic (at least to me) fruits being offered.   There were also these beautiful tiny fruits with funny looking little spindly things coming out of it.  The store had them as samples so I tried a half.  It turned out to be a Rambutan.  It was delicious, juicy with the texture and feel of a grape and just so sweet. 

I asked one of the store managers how to choose the best and ripe ones.  As we walked over to the section that held the fruit, she explained that the Rambutan is a relatively common tropical fruit  in many South Asian countries and easily accessible in her country the same way an apple is common to us here in the US.  She showed me what to look for in the ripe fruit and also pointed out which ones not to buy.  She said that any with black forming on the tips means that the rambutan is old or beginning to dry up.

She showed me how to open the fruit by using her thumbs to break the skin to peel away part of the spiny exterior to expose the fruit inside.  It then slips easily out of the skin, because the spines are very soft. The fruit actually looks  like a large white grape.   It has a seed inside and you just eat around the seed.  Wow, what a treat!