Mangosteen aka Manggis

October 18, 2008

Mangosteen or locally known as "Manggis" is a type of tropical fruit. Its scientific name is "Garcinia Mangostana". Mangosteen rind/husk/shell is deep purple-reddish in color when its ripe.

Some might even think that mangosteen is from the mango family due to the name but in reality, it is not from the mango family which obviously can be seen in the pictures later, Mango fruits have one big seed and the flesh are whole while mangosteen have small seed and the flesh are divided into few slices naturally. That is why mangosteen is not from the mango family, BenardCometh rationale style.

Mangosteen aka Manggis

Mangosteen aka Manggis V2.0

By the way, mangosteen aka "manggis" is also known as the Queen of Fruits, how cool is that? Queen of Fruits. Royal fruit yo.That makes me wonder whether there are any Knight of Fruit. Maybe the "Rambutan" or even the "Banana".

When mangosteen is not ripe, the shell is firm and hard and as it ripens the shell would become soft and easy to open using your bare hands. Yes, your bare hands. Time to show your manliness or even womanliness if there is such a word.

Now, BenardCometh Revelations am going to reveal the ancient secret method of opening mangosteen that is nearly forgotten. The ancient secret method of opening mangosteen with your bare hands and not some sissy way of using a knife.

First of all, get yourself a mangosteen and pluck/pull out the stem-like thing on top of the mangosteen.

1st Step

Then hold the mangosteen in your hand and press both thumbs slowly to crack open the shell. Pull the halves apart along the crack and you can see the white flesh inside.

2nd Step

3rd Step

Result

There, now you have learnt the ancient secret method of opening mangosteen using your bare hands. Time to enjoy the mangosteen's flesh. The white flesh is fragrant, sweet, and tangy with a unique texture.

Mangosteen's Flesh

Sweet Tasty Fruit

Yum Yum

There are two interesting info that is quite intriguing. The first is that, after eating mangosteen, it is advised not to eat sweet stuffs especially sugar. For whatever reason unkown to me but its what been told for generations I think.

The second info is that, you can actually guess how many slices of the mangosteen's flesh in the shell even before opening it. Look at the bottom part of the mangosteen and there is a flower-leaves like pattern. The total number of leaves will represent the total number of the mangosteen's flesh slices. For example if there are 5 leaves pattern then there will be 5 slices inside the mangosteen. Interesting huh.