Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Jack Fruit

(PICTURE: Jack Fruit in the foreground, Huyen and I buy pineapple in the background. Photo courtesy of Veronica.)

One of my favorite fruits in Vietnam is called Jack Fruit. Seemingly on every other corner in Hanoi is a vendor (or sometimes seven in a row) selling the flesh of this enormous fruit. 1 kilogram of Jack Fruit generally goes for between 40,000-50,000 Dong. That's just about $3.

According to Wikipedia, "Jack Fruit is the largest tree borne fruit in the world," and, "the fruits can reach 36 kg (80 lbs) in weight and up to 90 cm (36 in) long and 50 cm (20 in) in diameter."

If you do the math, a vendor could potentially sell all of the flesh of a Jack Fruit for nearly $100. How great of a job is that?! You can make a good living while enjoying delicious fruit.

One other thing, Jack Fruit is very high in fiber. Yeah, it makes you fart a lot. A mental note I should have given myself a long time ago: "Don't eat Jack Fruit before teaching."