What the F*ck is That? Starfruit Edition

It's time for another edition of What the F*ck is That? A little feature in my blog that explores eating a new fruit or veggie that I've never had. This time, I attempted the starfruit.

Also called carambola, this fruit grows in the U.S. in Hawaii and Florida and is also popular in Southeast Asia and a lot of the countries bordering the Indian Ocean. It's pretty obvious why it's called a starfruit.

A quick warning about starfruit before we move on. It is reported to have serious negative effects if you have kidney problems.

First I had to figure out how to cut the thing. I did a little research and repeated what I read.

I took some kitchen sheers and cut off the five ridges of the star fruit. Then you look for the end of the starfruit that was once connected to the tree and cut it off. It is the narrower side.

There are no seeds or anything, so from here on out it's just slicing the fruit so it looks like cute little stars.

The starfruit is one of the most fibrous fruits I've ever had. I looked it up and it only has 30 calories. It is a little tiny bit tangy with some perfumey notes, but for the most part this fruit is texture over flavor. It kind of reminded me of eating a very, very, very under-ripe grape. That kind of mouthfeel. I apparently ate this one when it wasn't quite ripe yet. I'll have to try it again when it's more soft.

Probably the best thing about this fruit though is just how fun it would make a fruit salad look.

What the F*ck is That? Mandarin Gold Nugget

I thought I'd start a new section of my blog, eloquently titled, "What the F*ck is That?"

In this section, I'll be eating a fruit or vegetable I see in the store that I have never seen or eaten before at all. This week at Safeway, I was drawn to this orange that looks like a little squash because of its ridges and dimples, the Mandarin Gold Nugget.

Its PLU is #4055 for those on the lookout, the gold nugget was made by the University of California Riverside and is seedless.

If you're a nerd, like me, and want to know all about the fruit, you can read about it here.

This is the easiest to peel orange of all time! It probably took me 10 seconds to do the whole thing.

The flavor is bright in the beginning, the same as a navel orange, but then it doesn't have that acidic, hyper-sweet finish. If you don't eat orange because of acid reflux or blood sugar issues, I think this fruit is definitely worth it! The pith was a little rough, so if you prefer smoother cased citrus, like clementines, you likely won't enjoy the texture of this orange. This also isn't the juiciest orange I've ever had, but it's a good mix of moist but not messy.

Essentially, this might be the perfect eat-at-your-desk orange. Not messy, easy to peel and still tasty.