Last Friday, I went with my awesome Thai teacher, Khun Nooie, and her boyfriend to Amphawa, a town about 1-2 hours southwest of Bangkok, famous for its floating market (ตลาดน้ำอัมพวา, da-laat nam am-pa-waa). Nooie's boyfriend's family lives in the area and owns an orchard, growing durian, rambutan, pomelo (related to a grapefruit, but better), and other fruits. They were very friendly, welcoming, and generous, sharing several meals and lots of fruit. As a parting gift, I was handed two large som-oo, pomelos. Now, never having come into contact with this fruit until moving to Thailand and never actually having pealed one, I was a little apprehensive about dealing with two large fruits. But, I was determined to peal it myself.
Step 1: Cut the peal (not too deeply) - 2 minutes
Step 2: Peal off as much of the rind as possible - 3-5 minutes
Step 3: Begin pealing the pulp off individual sections of the pomelo - 5 min to infinity
Step 5: Stop about half-way through because you're fingers are so exhausted they can no longer move. After about 30 minutes of pealing my pomelo, I had this... one perfect piece of pomelo wedge and LOTS of little pieces.
The end result, a plateful of delicious pomelo (note the 1/2+ pomelo remaining after about 45 minutes of cutting and pealing).
Pluses, 1) my fingers smell like aldehydes (they make the citrus smell), which made me 2) think of Mr. Outland, my high school chemistry teacher, and 3) my friend, Cyndi, who in said chemistry class, gave me the nickname "Al", and 4) made me appreciate all of the prepared fruit I buy on the street.
Also, here's a video of a Thai lady who peals the pomelo beautifully. I'm a little glad I didn't watch this before starting my pealing, because she makes it look WAY too easy.
Step 1: Cut the peal (not too deeply) - 2 minutes
Step 2: Peal off as much of the rind as possible - 3-5 minutes
Step 3: Begin pealing the pulp off individual sections of the pomelo - 5 min to infinity
Step 4: Continue pealing of the pulp/rind (Helpful hint - cut the rind/pulp from the middle for a smoother peal) - infinity
Step 5: Stop about half-way through because you're fingers are so exhausted they can no longer move. After about 30 minutes of pealing my pomelo, I had this... one perfect piece of pomelo wedge and LOTS of little pieces.
The end result, a plateful of delicious pomelo (note the 1/2+ pomelo remaining after about 45 minutes of cutting and pealing).
Pluses, 1) my fingers smell like aldehydes (they make the citrus smell), which made me 2) think of Mr. Outland, my high school chemistry teacher, and 3) my friend, Cyndi, who in said chemistry class, gave me the nickname "Al", and 4) made me appreciate all of the prepared fruit I buy on the street.
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| An aldehyde, courtesy of Wikipedia |
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