Yellow Melon – a new fruit adventure

I stumbled upon this fruit at my favorite fruit seller. I asked her if it was a squash (tell me the bright yellow skin doesn’t remind you of one). She said no. It’s a yellow melon. I had never heard of such a fruit, so I asked what it tasted like. She said like a cucumber. Then I asked if it wasn’t sweet. She said it was sweet.

A guy came walking down the street behind me and said, “Yellow melon,” with the biggest smile on his face.  After a few more harassing questions to the lovely fruit seller I bought one. She told me to soak it in salt water (because the skin is edible), cut it open and scoop out the seeds before eating it. 

And here it is. In all its bright yellow glory. The skin reminds me of an apple with its smooth texture. It has no smell, at least none I could detect before I cut it.

Then I took a bite and analyzed the taste. Crunchy and textured like an apple. A slight sweetness reminding me of a combination of a hard green pear and honeydew melon. Overall it was delicious. I had expected to eat only half and save the rest for later. It didn’t happen. All gone.

Interesting that after eating the fruit, which reminded me of sunshine, I looked it up and here’s what I found.

The rest of the world knows it as a canary melon or a winter melon

•       They are a low-energy-dense food.
•      A 1/2-cup serving of the canary melon has 25 calories, and with just 0.3 calories per gram, it's a low-energy-dense food you can fill up on without going overboard on calories.
•      Canary melons are an excellent source of fiber, with 10 grams per 1/2-cup serving.
•       Canary melons are high in vitamin C, meeting 50 percent of the daily value.
•       Canary melons are rich in vitamin A. A 1/2-cup serving meets 50 percent of the daily value for vitamin A.

The information came from

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/health-benefits-canary-melon-11576.html if you want more details.

And there you have it. I’m glad that I took a chance and tried something new.

Have you ever eaten a Canary melon? Or do you have any unique fruits you think I should get my hands on?