pomegranate...the devil fruit
It turns out that pomegranates are in season right now. I have found that I love things that are pomegranate flavored and thought I would give this tasty fruit a try.
So I researched the crap out of them online. How you eat them. What part you eat. All the things I didn't know about them.
I bought a pomegranate and thought it seemed like a fun adventure for a Friday night. Man was I wrong. Here's what I did after following instructions I found online.
1. Here is my pomegranate.
2. You cut off the crown.
3. Then you score the skin in various places without cutting through the seeds.
4. Next, place it in the water with the cut end facing down for about 10 minutes. (I had started the next step and realized I hadn't taken a picture of this step.)
5. Now you pull it apart and pull out the seeds. I guess the water loosens the membrane around the seeds so they come out more easily.
6. As you pull the seeds out of the pomegranate, the seeds will sink and the membrane will float.
7. After you have released all the seeds, take out any of the membrane floating on the top. Then strain the water out and you are left with the pomegranate seeds.
I read that you can eat the whole seed. There's a tiny seed in the middle which is surrounded by the juice and a thin layer holding it all in. You can also put the whole thing in your mouth, pop the thin layer and release the juice and then discard the seed. This was the option I chose. I did not care for the seed. But the seed is what holds the most health benefits.
Also, a whole pomegranate has around 105 calories. I think I managed to eat about 2 calories.
Now why might I call this the devil fruit? Because this whole process took FOREVER. A pomegranate has hundreds of those little seeds inside and you need to pull them all out. Then they are tiny, so you need to eat them one (or a few at a time) if you eat them the way I did. And you just get a TINY bit of juice out of each one. They were tasty, but so annoyingly frustrating.
So I would not get one of these again. They just weren't worth it. If you want to give it a try, feel free, but don't say I didn't warn you.
Now I know why pomegranate juice is so expensive!
Comments
I find it pretty easy to just pull them apart with your hands and rub the seeds gently and they just pop out. Combine it with some cool water from the tap and a colander it's not that bad. Also, pomegranate seeds made a good ingredient in a fruit salad. It adds a little crunch but not too much.
Posted by Justin Chase (not verified) | Sun, 11/29/2009 - 6:56pm | reply
I love pomegranate seeds!! You can buy them at stores like Kowalski's and they are already out of the fruit and in a container. I like to eat them just the way they are (seed and all) with a little Splenda on the top. Caleb even tried them and thought they were "okay". Good try!! :)
Posted by Katie (not verified) | Sun, 11/22/2009 - 9:59pm | reply
Buying them already seeded might be the way to go. They were tasty. I just thought it was a lot of work to get them out. It's not something I would do regularly. I might learn to like the seed inside if I ate them more often. I was proud for giving it a try! :)
Posted by Andrea | Mon, 11/23/2009 - 8:28am | reply
I had the same genious idea for a work-day snack. I had to go to You Tube to learn "how to" eat the darn thing. It was a very expensive, time-consuming thing. I would not recommend it to anyone, because like you said, it takes forever to eat. And you don't really end up eating anything. I think you burn more calories trying to eat it than you actually ingest.
Posted by Lisa (not verified) | Mon, 11/23/2009 - 10:50am | reply