I don't have any qualms with Zespri® Green Kiwifruit but many I knew, complaint that it's very sour. However, if you have ripen a green kiwifruit fully, you would be surprise how sweet it can be! Use unripe green kiwifruits in your cooking, it's excellent in tom yum, green sambal, chutney or sweet and sour dish.
If you find ripening green kiwifruit is a task, try Zespri® Gold Kiwifruit. It's really 100% sweet and I love that fresh sweetness that it gives. However, I love my fruits to be sweet with a hint of tang, so I like to believed that the latest Zespri® SunGold Kiwifruit variety is designed and developed for me :p Other than tasting great fresh, I'm rather surprised that SunGold can be so versatile in many dishes I've created.
I've always heard that people shun buying kiwifruits because, one - they don't know how to pick or choose kiwifruits and two - they're sour. I'm going to repeat myself on these 2, hoping that I don't sound like a broken record.
How to pick kiwifruits:
Zespri® Kiwifruits are sold in plastic containers# to prevent them from being squashed. Open up the container and use your eyes to judge that the fruits are all nice without any blemished or squashed sign. Try not to poke or squeeze them as you wouldn't like other people to do the same to your fruits that you would want to purchase.
# do collect the barcodes to enter the contest to win a trip to New Zealand!!!
How to identify ripe kiwifruits:
Once you're back home, open the container and place one kiwifruit on your palm. While cradling it, using gentle pressure, press the kiwifruit with your fingers. If they're rock hard, means it's not ripe yet. For the Green kiwifruits, this stage would be suitable for cooking as they could be hard and sour. As for the Gold and Sungold, it's still not suitable for eating yet.
If the kiwifruit is slightly soft, you could eat them but if kept for another day or two, you'll be able to taste the sweetness even though if it's a Green kiwifruit but if they're Gold or Sungold, go for it!
How to ripen kiwifruits:
Place them together with apples or bananas in a cool dry place (or in the fridge) and they'll ripen hastily. You would be surprised that in our Malaysian weather, read hot and humid, when left with bananas and apples, the ripening process is not as quick we thought it would be! Yup, tried and tested :D
Place them together with apples or bananas in a cool dry place (or in the fridge) and they'll ripen hastily. You would be surprised that in our Malaysian weather, read hot and humid, when left with bananas and apples, the ripening process is not as quick we thought it would be! Yup, tried and tested :D
I usually keep those foil bags that came with large pack of milk powder, Milo, instant coffee etc and use them to store fruits and vege which can last so much longer in the fridge. I did the same with my Green Kiwifruits that came rock hard from my Kiwifruits Fairies.
The next dish came up when I wanted to cook a quick lunch for BoiBoi and myself. I did think of a Minestrone which I think Green Kiwifruit could go so well in it but I do not have that many ingredients in my fridge. Next up, I had wanted to do a Seafood Marinara but BoiBoi doesn't really fancy seafood but a few prawns is ok o.O
The next best bet was a really simple aglio olio, something that can be racked up from a basic larder. Who knows that Green Kiwifruits can go so well in a pasta dish?!! BoiBoi and I cleaned our plates up in a jiffy!
Prawn and Zespri® Green Kiwifruit Aglio Olio Pasta
(Serves 2)
1 Zespri® Green Kiwifruit, slice into thickish chunks
120 g medium sized prawns, shelled with sand track removed
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tsp chopped red chillies
Salt & freshly grounded black pepper to taste
150 g fusili pasta (usually spaghetti or angel hair is used)
In a large pot of boiling water with lots of salt, cook pasta till al dente according to package instruction. Drain pasta when cooked and reserve some pasta cooking water.
Fry prawns in 1/2 Tbsp of oil in a frying pan, on both sides until they're cooked. Remove to a plate and set aside. In the same pan, pour in remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp oil and fry the garlic till fragrant BUT not brown. Toss in the red chillies and stir. Add in the prawns and cooked pasta. Mix well and Turn off the heat. Add in kiwifruits, salt, black pepper and parsley and toss evenly. If it's a little dry, add in a little of the pasta cooking water.
Serve hot with more freshly grounded black pepper.
ooo, i've never seen a pasta recipe with kiwifruit before, but this looks very tempting :D
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