Kiwano Melon - Have you tried this interesting fruit?

video description

Rating: 4.0; Vote: 1

A kiwano melon is a fruit that's native to parts of southern Africa. One of the things I enjoy doing most in life is sampling fruits I've never tried before. Over the course of my travels, I've been able to try a lot of exotic and interesting fruits, some of which are now my favorite fruits in the entire world such as durian, cempedak, and that bizarre egg yolk fruit that I tried in Thailand. Anyway, I just think that fruit is one of the most amazing things in the world - the reason being that different fruits, which are produced by trees, and so incredible - impossible to be recreated and cooked by a human, but just natural amazing flavors. So while I've mostly tried fruits in Southeast Asia, I was actually in the United States, at a store in Phoenix, Arizona, when I walked into a supermarket and noticed a bright orange fruit. I looked at the label and saw that it was something known as a kiwano melon. At 3. 99 per fruit, it was extremely expensive for just a single fruit, but when I see a new fruit that I've never tried before, there's no holding me back on my desire to try it, and I was willing to dish out a bit of cash in order to get a couple of these kiwano melons. When I got home, I did a bit of research to see what exactly the melon was, and discovered that it's also known as a horned melon, and that the fruit is native to parts of the southern part of Africa. I tried to not read too much about the flavor of a kiwano melon, as I wanted to see for myself how it tasted before reading someone else's opinion. So with little research I decided to give this peculiar and beautiful orange thorny fruit a try. When I first sat down with the horned melon I really didn't know what to do so I first cut it in half. I was extremely impressed with the beautiful orange color from the outside and the contrast of the green seeds on the inside. I got out a spoon, and dug out my first bite of the kiwano melon. The seeds looked very similar to a cucumber, and they were coated in a gel, or a Jell-O like skin. The seeds were very tough and quite hard to chew, but they did have a really good flavor to them. The melon sort of reminded me of cucumber with its freshness, but at the same time it had a flavor similar to a kiwifruit, but quite a bit less sweet. So after finishing about half of the key watermelon, I decided to research it a little bit more, and found out that it's a very healthy fruit. The fruit is packed with all sorts of vitamins and fiber, so it's not only an interesting fruit to try but also healthy fruit. I also read that if you want no melon is commonly used in things like fruit shakes and even cocktails, and some people mentioned that they take out the seeds. Overall the kiwano melon was very interesting to try, and I did enjoy it, but it was a bit too expensive in the United States for me to eat it on a regular basis. It's a great fruit, but not really worth going out of your way to purchase all the time
Date: 2019-08-19

← Mexican Torta - Every Meat You Can Imagine in a Bun at Los Reyes De La Torta

How I make money while traveling the world (and eating) →

Related videos

Inside Afghanistan's MEAT Paradise! (Unreal Afghan Food)

• Mark Wiens

I Ate Kurdish Street Food in Kurdistan! (7000 Years of History)

• Mark Wiens

The ENCHIRITO is easy to make and 10x better at home

• Simply Mama Cooks

How One Farm Raises the Rarest, Most Expensive Mollusk in America Vendors

• Eater

Incredibly Soft ITALIAN POUND CAKE - Ciambellone

• Emma's Goodies

Hawaii's Best Ice Cream Is Sourced Straight From The Islands - Family Food

• Munchies

Comments and reviews: 10

evogardens
Morning Ying & Mark, Never heard of this weird fruit before. Does it originate from Asia? Visually it looks stunning, but I'm not sold on the texture/taste of it. Gotta watch those slippery l'il suckers sliding down yer chin For my money, you can't go past a nice juicy Mango or Red Dragon fruit. Cheers. Jim.
reply

Ginger Domer
I have tried this and think it is just so-so. Not in the top fruits ever but I am glad I have tried it. Agreed a little funny texture and those seeds are bothersome. Refreshing is a great word and would imagine if in a hot climate such as Africa where it originates it would be a welcomed fruit.
reply

Energia Maculele
If you eat one again, try cutting it the way you did but then hold one half with the open side up and squeeze near the bottom. The pods should rise up through the film like bubbling goo. I tried it when I ate my first kiwano recently and it looked satisfyingly freaky
reply

Stefan Skard
it tastes just like a cucumber, the seeds are like white seeds in watermelon, and as hard to eat as a pommegranate. Doesn't taste much. Very slimy the stuff around the seeds. I really don't get why he feels it taste like kiwi and when he says it's sweet and sour.
reply

S G
Hi Mark, have you ever tried the Pandanus (Pandan) fruit? I saw contestants on Survivor Cagayan eating it and it looks very exotic and tasty. I would love for you to share with us your experience with it, hopefully sometime soon? I'll be waiting: )
reply

Atef Abedin
You're supposed to cut the kiwano in half vertically and suck with your teeth preventing the seeds to go through but the green jelly is able to pass. I love these series of fruit trying youve had, didnt see them before
reply

Monkey Abroad
Yeah I tried kiwano melon once in the States. I think if I was stranded on a deserted island and it was the only food source left, I would prefer to starve to death. Like you said, it's. slimy.
reply

Eulalie
Interesting fruit Mark, the outside looks a bit like a dragon fruit. it is amazing how many variety of fruits are available out there. never seen that one before. Thanks for sharing. :)
reply

manner1232
Yes Horned Mellon so good, you hit the description right on the head. There is a Street Market in Monrovia (Southern California) that sells all types of great fruit. Thanks Mark
reply

Phil in Bangkok
Hi Mark, when are you back in Bangkok? I'm back after 9 months back in Canada, I will be going back the end of May for summer, hope to catch up when you are back, cheers
reply

Add a review, comment