Who's ugli?

I was pretty excited to see Katie's New Foods Challenge, as I always have my eyes on fun things in the produce section of the grocery store! First were the ramps I found, which I really enjoyed. This time I made the switch to a fruit...


Ugli fruit! It's also known as uniq fruit, or Jamaican tangelo, and believed to be a hybrid of a grapefruit, tangerine, and perhaps a pomello. Like other citrus fruit, it's high in vitamin C and has some fiber to boot. How to pick a ripe one? I had no idea, but according to this website, it is only picked when ripe (so it will be ripe in the store) and can range from green to yellow to orange. While I found recipes for an Ugli Salad w/Avocado & Shrimp and Uniq Lemon Marmelade that sounded great, I got lazy and decided to try it in its natural form... I just ate it :)


It has a thick rind that was very easy to peel. The segments came apart easily, but the casings were quite tough, so I ended up starting to peel them and squeezing out the pulp with my teeth. Perhaps eating it like a grapefruit would've been easier! It was SO juicy, it's a good thing I didn't try to eat this on my couch! I could tell it was part grapefruit, but it was very sweet and refreshing. Maybe next time I'll try those recipes...