Today we are going to make an easy dragon fruit dessert, using the pulp of the dragon fruit (also called pitaya), tapioca starch, and sugar. The official name of this fruit is pitaya, but it is commonly called dragon fruit because of its leathery, spiny exterior skin. Pitaya is the fruit of several types of tropical and subtropical cactus. According to Baidu Encyclopedia, it is native to coastal regions in Southern Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador, Cuba, Colombia and other places in Central America.
The varieties common in the Americas are sour tasting, of the genus Stenocereus. Sweet tasting dragon fruit, of the genus Selenicereus, were later introduced to Vietnam, and Hainan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan and other provinces in China. There are three varieties of sweet pitaya:
- red-skinned, red-fleshed pitaya, which I will use to make our dragon fruit dessert today
- pink-skinned, white-fleshed pitaya is the most common variety
- yellow-skinned, white-fleshed pitaya
The red-fleshed pitaya has a strong natural dyeing ability. It is worth mentioning that the pitaya pulp contains almost no fructose and sucrose, and the sugar is mainly glucose. This natural glucose is easy to absorb and suitable for consumption after exercise.
A fruit and a dessert ingredient
Dragon fruit can be eaten raw after removing the skin, and you can also use it to make desserts. Some desserts use pitaya as a dye to make the color of the dessert more natural and beautiful. I will use pitaya to make a dragon fruit dessert today. The steps are simple to make a dessert suitable for hot summer days. The tapioca starch used in the recipe is a powder made by dehydrating and drying cassava after starch extraction. Compared with corn starch, tapioca starch has greater flexibility in making desserts.
Easy Dragon Fruit Dessert
Equipment
- 1 wok
- 1 serving bowl
- 1 paring knife
Ingredients
- 100 g red dragon fruit pulp
- 115 g tapioca starch
- 10 g sugar
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients.
- Crush the dragon fruit pulp, add sugar and mix well. Bring to a boil.100 g red dragon fruit pulp, 10 g sugar
- Pour the hot dragon fruit juice into the tapioca starch. Stir well. Then knead it with your hands to make a smooth dough.115 g tapioca starch
- Divide the dough into small pieces and roll them into balls. Make balls of similar size.
- Fill your wok or a large saucepan with enough water to completely cover the dragon fruit balls. Then bring the water to a boil and add the dragon fruit balls.
- Cook until the fruit balls float, then simmer over medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
- Drain the dragon fruit balls, and add them to a bowl with ice cubes. Serve with yogurt, milk, or coconut milk.
Notes
- When kneading the dragon fruit dough with your hands, be careful not to get burned by the hot dragon fruit juice.
- You can eat the dragon fruit balls with milk, yogurt, or coconut milk.
Nutrition
Other dessert recipes
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