The Pomelo Fruit is quite a special tropical citrus fruit! Besides being naturaly the biggest of it's kind, the Pomelo, aka Pummelo or Pomello, is a very healthy fruit on it's own.
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That is why I decided to share my new breakfast obsession, which is basically a Pomelo smoothie with other delicious tropical fruits, further below.
At the same time, I realized that handling such a massive fruit might not just be common sense, and therefore I also covered below on how to open and eat a Pomelo fruit.
Jump to:
π What is a Pomelo fruit?
The other day, our neighbor gave us a homegrown Pomelo fruit from his garden.
He has a Pomelo tree, which yields a good amount of Pomelo fruits and since these fruits tend to naturally grow outrageously huge, he likes to share them with the whole neighborhood.
The Pomelo tree is native to tropical Asia and South America, they even grow in Florida and California!
Some of my neighbors have a tree and as you can see in the picture below, the pomelo tree looks just like any other tree, in
You might be able to spot the round young fruits growing up high on the tree in the picture.
Pomelos are the biggest naturally growing citrus fruits in the world.
The one in the picture was 2.3 kg (!) heavy and was quite a big pomelo fruit.
The fruit itself is also known as Pummelo or Pomello in different parts of the world.
Ironically many people, even in Goa, think the Pomello is an outgrown Grapefruit.
What do you call the Pomelo fruit in your corner of the world?
π Pomelo VS Grapefruit
Grapefruit and Pomelo are too very different fruits.
The confusion mostly arises in french too, where the pomelo might be known in some parts as a pamplemousse, yet the grapefruit goes by the same name in all french speaking parts of the globe.
Grapefruits are smaller, have a thinner orange colored skin and less "spongy" material compared to the Pomelo.
Grapefruits might come in different variations but they are definitely more sour and flavorful then Pomelos.
The Pomelo fruit has a thick light green colored skin with big pores.
It contains a lot of sponge inside at the borders, which is a bit shocking when you open a fruit.
Pomelos taste mellow, it has a pink salmon hue and the citrus flesh is way harder compared to a grapefruit.
You can literally pick out the flesh pieces and eat it plainly that way.
The Pomelo fruit tastes a bit sour and bitter too, which I enjoy!
Yet, because the fruit is not that strong in flavor, I love it, because in that way I can use it in various sweet and savory foods.
β How do you eat a Pomelo fruit?
When I saw my first Pomelo fruit, I had to buy and taste it (obviously) but at the time of the purchase I didn't consider how I would eat this gorgeous fruit.
Turns out you need a different approach to tackle a ripe Pomelo!
If you are following my Instagram stories then you might know already how to do that, but of course I did promise to spell it out here again.
Before you go ahead and take your pomelo apart, consider this...
- a grapefruit is usually cut into half and the flesh spooned/cut out
- orange and mandarins are peeled before taken apart by hand
- lemons and mosambi are cut into half and squeezed out
A Pomelo fruit is so big that you need to open up the fruit the following way. [#Instagramstories screenshots]
- Cut into half
- Slightly cut into the sponge mass of the fruit and start peeling off the big amount of sponge with your fingers so that you are left with only the fruit flesh and it's casing. This is easier then peeling an orange!
- Then just pull apart each individual fruit casing
- Take out the flesh with your fingers and place it into a bowl. This is easy and a clean job because the fruit flesh is hard.
That's all there is to it!
The only thing with a Pomelo fruit is, similar to Breadfruit and Jackfruit, that when you open one fruit, you will end up with a lot of fruit flesh.
What I usually do is I take out all the fruit flesh and place it into a Tupperware.
Then I use it to make smoothies, juice or I also like to add it to usual salads such as Kani salad, iceberg salad and similar.
Today I am sharing my recent breakfast obsession a tropical pomelo smoothie bowl which I tend to prepare with fresh fruits from the garden.
ποΈ More tropical fruits! π
- Soursop fruit to make a so called guanabana juice
- Cashew Fruit
- Hog Plum
- Jambul berry
Dear Reader, do you get Pomelo wherever you are right now in the world?
Related to the Pomelo Smoothie:
π Recipe
Pomelo Smoothie Bowl Recipe
Ingredients
- 8.8 ounces Pomelo
- 2 Passion Fruits aka Maracuja
- 1 Sapote aka Chikoo fruit
- Β½ cup Coconut Milk
- Natural Sweetener to taste such as Stevia or Honey
Instructions
- Discard Passion Fruit seeds if you don't like them, I don't mind the little bitterness and keep the seeds.
- Also I don't peel my sapote as it's homegrown. The skin usually has extra useful nutrient and besides it's a job less to not peel the fruit. However, you need to take out the seeds from the sapote fruit.
- Place all the ingredient into the blender jar and mix to a smooth consistency.
- Enjoy your smoothie a bit cooled. Sometimes I like to sprinkle some chia or basil seeds on the smoothie before finishing a whole bowl full after work out in the morning.
Catherine says
I've never seen one of those before but what a beautiful smoothie bowl!
Noel Lizotte says
What an unusual (to me) fruit! I love learning about and trying new foods - things that are traditional in other cultures but foreign to me. I'm going to keep an eye out for one of these at the grocery!
swathi says
very useful post, I need to check it out in Indian store. Pomelo fruit sounds interesting.
Carmen says
Oh, wow! This was a really interesting read. I've never heard of this kind of citrus fruit. Thanks for sharing!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
I have never heard of this fruit and I need to keep my eyes open during my next trip to India. Love the beautiful Salomon color of the fruit abdominal the smoothie. Thanks for the detailed description on how to tackle the fruit.
Veena Azmanov says
I have not eaten a pomelo in years. I remember eating it in Europe some time back. I love the tart flavor and this with the creamy coconut sounds so heavenly. Love the pretty color too. Must look for it the next time
Sara Welch says
I have never heard of a Pomelo fruit before. Its flesh is similar to a grape fruit. It sounds like I have a new fruit to get my hands on and try!
Joanna @ Everyday Made Fresh says
I am surprised that I've never heard of this Pomelo fruit before. I watch a lot of Food Network, and sort of get my introduction to new ingredients from Chopped. This is one that is completely new to me. It sounds like a tasty citrus fruit!
Helene Dsouza says
Oh well I have an Exotic fruit section -> in my recipe category. You will find a lot of lesser known ingredients there and ideas on how to use them. π
valmg @ From Val's Kitchen says
I've never heard of the Pomelo before. That smoothie bowl has awesome color and looks like it has great texture!
Srivalli Jetti says
I have never tasted a Pomelo fruit..You have such a good neighbour for sharing the fruits, and your sbs pics are so useful for sure!
Adriana Lopez Martin says
I love grapefruit and pomelos so I am sure I would love this smoothie bowl you are suggesting which by the way looks amazing =)
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
I have never seen or heard of pomelo fruit. I don't think it is available here in Canada....unless maybe at an international market. Sounds like it would be an interesting and tasty drink for sure.
Colleen Milne says
I do remember buying one, once, and we just dug into it. It was delicious, but not very practical, so you recipe makes me want to buy another one!
Razena says
The pomelo smoothie bowl has a fantastic color. I've seen whole pomelo in the supermarket but thus far have only bought already peeled ones. Thanks for the instructions on how to peel it π
Francis says
Honestly this is the first time I am here about ponmello. Maybe it is not common where I am from. Thanks for the recipe looking forward to buying ponmello.
Jenni says
What a fun post! I have never had a pomelo before, but now I want to find one and try it!
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious says
I've never tried this before. It sounds delicious, as does the smoothie!
Sandi says
I have seen pomelos at the store, but I never knew what else to do with them. I love your smoothie idea.
Annemarie @ justalittlebitofbacon says
Thank you for all the great info on the pomelo fruit. I remember buying one once a while back and I was quite surprised at how it looked inside. Also, I had no idea what to do with it. I'll have to try your smoothie idea.
Jenni LeBaron says
This is a really beautiful color! I have not tried a Pomello yet, but I appreciate your instructions for getting the fruit out!
Stephanie@ApplesforCJ says
This looks so refreshing! I've never actually tried pomelo fruit so need to put this on my list to try!
Sam | Ahead of Thyme says
Wow, I can't believe that I have never tried pomelo. This smoothie looks delicious!
Allison - Celebrating Sweets says
I've never tried this before. I'll have to try your smoothie!
lisa says
I love Pomello but you don't see it often over here in theUK. Will have to find some to try this recipe, it looks delicious
Pretty says
I have seen pomelo fruit but never tried it, love your explanation on the fruit, how to prepare it and eat it. I am going to look out for it in the Indian shop here and try your smoothie recipe.
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
I am not fancy for smoothie, but I do love pomelo!
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says
I have seen it around before but it isn't readily available where I am. The smoothie looks so colourful and delicious
Corina Blum says
I don't think I've ever had a pomelo but would love to try one. I think your smoothie bowl looks so pretty and colourful too.
Diana says
Pomelo is my favourite citrus fruit! I grew up in Jordan and we had lots of pomelos there but they're more yellow rather than orange.