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Star fruit is called such because when it's cut at a cross section, its pieces resemble cute little stars. It's sweet, with a note of tartness, and has a firm, grape-like texture. The fruit, also called a carambola, is a tropical variety native to Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, and other parts of Southeast Asia. But, it's also grown in other warm climates, like Latin America and Florida, so it's pretty widely available at the supermarket in the United States. If you should be so lucky as to have this sweet-tart treat on your hands, here's how to eat star fruit:
1. Choose a ripe star fruit
A ripe star fruit will be firm to the touch, have a bright yellow color, and may have slightly browned edges. Occasional patches of green are okay, but if a star fruit is mostly green in color, it means it's not ripe.
2. Cut the star fruit into slices
Start by placing the starfruit on a cutting board horizontally and removing each end of the fruit with a knife. Then, with the fruit still horizontal on the cutting board, cut the star fruit crosswise to your desired thickness. The pieces that you cut will look like stars—in fact, star fruit is so pretty cut this way that there's no need to bother dicing or chopping them. The star shape is half the fun. Use the tip of your knife or your fingers to remove the seeds towards the center of the slices. Like apple seeds, star fruit seeds are edible but not particularly tasty.
3. Use It as a Drink Garnish
Star fruit, with its beautiful shape, is a natural choice for a garnish on the rim of a fun frozen drink. Just slice a little notch in it like you would a lemon or lime wedge, and stick it on the rim of your cocktail. Try it on one of these:
4. Make Star Fruit Chips
Star fruit can also be baked and covered in a syrup for a fun, sweet star-shaped chip.
5. Pickle It
Star Fruits are commonly made into pickles or chutneys. These could go in salads, on top of curries, or basically go anywhere you'd eat any kind of pickled produce. This is a good use for star fruit that is less ripe.
6. Freeze into an Ice Ring
Star fruits are beautiful in a giant ring of ice. Plus, the giant block won't melt as quickly in a punch, making it perfect for parties.
7. Put it in a fruit salad
With its cool shape, star fruit is the perfect way to jazz up some fruit salad and make it a beautiful centerpiece of your backyard barbecue spread.
8. Blend it into a smoothie, or even cook it!
It seems a shame to puree a gorgeously shaped star fruit into a smoothie, but it tastes delicious. You can also add star fruit to stir-fries and South Indian curries.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated as a part of our archive repair project.
