The red dragon fruits at a fruit stall were clearing at 3 for $2, too good an offer to be passed up, especially when they are the red variety.
Though they appeared a bit wet, the fruit felt firm though. Since the peel of dragon fruit is quite thick, I reckoned that the flesh should still be edible, even if these are over-ripe. Once I reached home, I cut up the fruit and stored the dark colored flesh in an airtight container so that the whole fruit will not ripen further.
While they are fine to be eaten as fruits, the color was so pretty that I turned one of them into jam. The end result reminded me of the blueberry compote I posted last year. I turn blueberries into preserves when they are on offer, but this is even cheaper. And they even taste like jam made of berries!
I didn’t follow any recipe, another one of my many cook by feel/taste attempts.
Simply chop up the flesh of one dragon fruit into chunks and cook over medium heat. Once the fruit gets cooked, softened and begin to release its juice, break up the fruit pieces further with the back of a wooden spoon to release more even liquid to cook the flesh further. I used a hot pot ladle with holes and simply press down the fruit to squash them. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar, keep stirring and cooking. Squeeze juice from half a lemon into the cooking jam. Continue to stir as the jam reduces its liquid into a thick consistency. Taste test if the sweet/sour level is to your liking and adjust by adding sugar/lemon juice accordingly.
The jam will thicken further when cool down. Store the jam in a sterilised glass jar and finish them up as soon as possible, especially if not much sugar has been added as natural preservatives.
MONO and CO 