Dragonfruit: fraternal twins

There are two varieties of dragonfruit (well, three, but the two varieties of purple-skinned dragonfruit are the only ones I've encountered in the wild): white-fleshed and purple-fleshed.

There might only be a psychosomatic difference in flavor, but I'm saying it anyway:

I love purple-fleshed dragonfruit.

Dinner on the Nanning-Hà Nội overnight train

I love it so much I have absolutely no problem posting an unflattering picture of me with purple smeared on my nose after chomping into this dragonfruit like an animal instead of walking three train cars down to the dining car and getting a fork.

It tastes like a raspberry, a kiwi, and a passion fruit had a very flamboyant baby!

The white kind is boring.  Not bad - it's certainly got the edge on lots of fruit - but surprisingly mild.  You've got to be kidding me, fruit: you look like an exotic butterfly or a tropical leaf or, well, a dragon, on the outside and then I cut you open and you're all pasty and taste like a muted kiwi?  Unacceptable.

Nope.

Dragonfruits like to play tricks.

WHAT IS THIS WIZARDRY?
(thanks, Ian Maguire)

I can ALMOST tell the difference from the outside, but not reliably enough.  You'll see me combing Asian fruit markets, holding dragonfruits up to the light, prodding them with my finger, examining their leaves, and peeking down their little dragonfruit navels.

Nanning, China: I am in the background, ready to pounce.

It's not bad enough that I am an abnormally tall white girl in Asia, of course; I also have to molest the poor vendors' wares.  When I come upon one of those stalls that slices one fruit open as an inviting display, I have to forcibly restrain myself from hugging its owner.  Luckily for the comfort zones of fruit vendors everywhere, it's not a great idea to slice open a display fruit in a hot, humid, buggy climate.

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Where to find dragonfruit in Orange County:

Many places.  Dragonfruit is getting more mainstream in the States.  They have it at H-Marts, 99 Ranches, Siêu Thị Thuận Pháts, and other big Asian grocery chains around the area.  Occasionally I'll even see a few sad specimens in the 'tropical' section at Ralph's.

Where to find purple dragonfruit in Orange County:

Like for good rambutan, you may have to go to the smaller Vietnamese fruit markets (again, anything whose sign says 'trái cây').  I have gotten lucky exactly once, when a close inspection of the leaves yielded me a goldmine of purple goodness.

How to tell the difference:

This is NOT foolproof, but here are some hints:

The leaves on the purple-fleshed ones tend to be a little shorter and more curled.  The give in the rind is a little softer: the difference between white-fleshed ones and purple-fleshed ones is like the difference between a ripe Clementine and a ripe satsuma.  Finally, the white-fleshed ones tend to be more oval and elongated, while the purple-fleshed ones are squatter.

How to eat:

If you want to be all fancy, you can cut them in half, scoop the flesh out with a spoon, cut it into cubes, and pour the cubes into the skin, which now serves as a bowl.  Personally, I just eat it in the messiest, least polite way possible - it gets it into my mouth faster.