Eating pomelo: instructions on how to peel and eat it properly

Eating pomelos and peeling them properly is quite easy. Here you can find out everything you need to know about how to easily peel and eat the large citrus fruit.

The pomelo is a very special fruit. Above all, its origin is exciting and seems like a real fruit crossing marathon: By crossing grapefruit and tangerine the sweet and bitter oranges emerged. The crossing of orange with the grapefruit (Citrus maxima) yielded the grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) and when this was crossed again with the grapefruit, the result was the pomelo. The Pomelo was particularly lucky when it came to her taste heritage. In contrast to the very bitter grapefruit, it has the fruity-sweet taste of tangerine and sweet orange.

The skin of the pomelo is quite thick, which is why many wonder what is the best way to peel and cut pomelos. We have summarized this for you below:

Eating pomelos: easily peel and cut

1. First cut the skin of the pomelo in the middle of the fruit. The cut shouldn't be too deep though, as you don't want to cut right into the flesh. Only the shell is severed in this way.
2. Use your fingers to gently separate the pomelo flesh from the skin. This process is called peeling. Then you can easily remove one half of the bowl.
3. Now repeat the peeling for the other half of the pomelo.
4. Now you can split the pomelo in half by simply pulling the fruit apart with your thumbs in the opening at the top.
5. The white skin that surrounds the flesh of the pomelo can also be plucked off if you like. Now you can easily separate the pomelo fruit segments, remove excess skin and use the empty shells as a serving dish.

Ingredients and uses of the healthy pomelo

The pomelo is a very healthy fruit. Especially for people who watch their daily calorie intake, the citrus fruit is a major win. With just 25 to 50 kilocalories (kcal) per 100 grams, the pomelo has an extremely low value compared to many other types of fruit. Thus, it (like the grapefruit) is a very good food during diets. The pomelo also has a high vitamin C content for citrus fruits. Potassium, magnesium and phosphate also come together in the pulp of the pomelo. It also contains so-called limonine, a natural bitter substance that has a beneficial effect on intestinal activity. Overall, the pomelo is a very healthy fruit and an alternative when you get bored with orange and grapefruit. But be careful: People who take blood pressure lowering medication should not eat too much of the pulp.

Otherwise, you can of course enjoy the pomelo in many different forms. One option is to incorporate the fruit into mixed fruit salads. The pomelo also cuts a fine figure as an addition to muesli and natural yoghurts. But you can also be a little more adventurous and use the pomelo in heartier dishes. Asian cuisine in particular offers many opportunities to use the flesh of the pomelo as a fruity note, especially in vegetable dishes.

Our tip: With fresh mint leaves, the pomelo tastes particularly good and refreshing - also as a homemade lemonade!

Origin and cultivation of pomelos

The citrus fruit is one of the relatively new breeds. It was first bred in Israel in the early 1970s. In China and Southeast Asia, however, the same breeds of grapefruit and pomelo soon emerged. After a short time, the new fruit also reached the European market. The pomelo is always conspicuous on the supermarket shelves in the fruit and vegetable departments: its size, the light pink, light yellow to light green color and their partially pear-shaped shape distinguish them from the others citrus fruits. You can usually find them in an orange net in the supermarket. To date, it is mainly grown in Israel, China, Southeast Asian countries and South Africa.

In addition to the pomelo, there are others exceptional citrus fruit types and varieties. We present some of them in our article.

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