Here ’s a perfect guide to buying , feeding , store , and cooking with Psidium littorale .
BHG / Michelle Parkin
Guava ’s flavor is most usually described as an intersection of strawberry andpear , sometimes with traces of lemon or passionfruit . Its profile and popularity has continued to grow alongside that of its completing Latin culinary art . But whatisthis fruit whose flavor has become more and more common on card ? What does it look like ? And before we get into how to eat on a true guava or pick a Psidium guajava , how do we even identify a true guava ?
Credit:BHG / Michelle Parkin
What Is Guava?
Guava come to us in the United States from Mexico , Central America , the Caribbean , and South America . This versatile and nutritious fruit has appeared in tropic culinary art for so long that it ’s ill-defined when it was first cultivated , although there are strong suspicions that its point of blood line is southerly Mexico or Peru , where it continues to be grown and enjoyed today . Archaeological web site in Peru have unlocked signs of guava polish as far back as 2500 BCE .
Guava is alimental - dense — tamp down with vitamin 100 , vitamin A , vitamin M , potassium , magnesium , and dietary fiber . It can help further your immune system , and improve your overall health .
What Does Guava Taste Like?
Guava is fruity and angelical , with a subtle tartness based on the ripeness of the yield . Often described as a combination of Pyrus communis and strawberry , it has tropic notes like to mango , with a smack and texture that can resemble freshpapaya .
How Many Types of Guava Are There?
Today , there are over 30varieties of guava grownacross tropical climate , categorized into either white-hot or cerise guava . Generally , they are shaped like a plump , orotund pear or avocado . Their skins can graze from creamy hue to rosy reds . However , they ’re most unremarkably green or yellow on the outside , with shades and undertones that vary count on ripeness .
Lemon guava or apple guava is the most coarse , and is very sweet with a strong scent , satisfying starchiness , and big look . Other light - colored one , such as tropical Edward D. White ( which have yellow material body beneath their peels ) are even sweeter . pinkish guava are actually on the other side of the spectrum due to their in high spirits water capacity . The advantage to red Psidium guajava , other than their pretty colour , is that there are fewer seminal fluid . All are delicious and more often than not sweet , which allow choosing a variety up to aesthetic or program . They ’re all considerably gratifying than passionfruit , which guava is often throw with .
How to Choose a Ripe Guava
Like all sweet tropic fruits , rude guava at the height of ripeness is exponentially more intense and flavorous than one that has n’t yet reached its flower .
Your first cue at the produce bin ? Nelly Terraza , Kitchen Manager forCasa Almenara , an Atlanta eating house focused on cuisine from Tulum , Mexico , says , “ It’sallabout the people of color !
“ The greener the Psidium guajava , the less ripe it is , ” Terraza says . “ Look for one that leans more toward light-green yellow or yellow if you need optimum ripeness . It might even have a small pink motley in , too . ” You ’ll want to quash darker fruits unless you ’re not examine to eat them the right way off or are uncoerced to wait for them to mature , and impart injure or blemished guava in the bin .
Credit:BHG / Michelle Parkin
Santiago Gomez , chef - owner ofMexican fine dining supper ball club Palo Santo(also in Atlanta ) , goes by vividness also but points out that grain is equally important .
“ I prefer them when they are still a little bit truehearted , which means they wo n’t be too sweet , ” he says . “ But if you favor them as sweet as potential , ensure they are soft . ” For this fruit , good give is an indicator of ripeness , not necessarily spoilage . If you plan to eat it soon after purchase , seek out the ones that feel dim and antiphonal to a lightsome squeeze .
Finally , a good snuff can also give you an estimate of how quick to run through the guava you ’re holding is . A musky , scented perfume should give forth from ripe guava . Its odor can also recite you if it ’s gone too far in the ripening process and has start out to go bad . head off any that smell of acetum or disintegration .
Credit:BHG / Michelle Parkin
How to Eat Guava
Other than the root word , the integral yield is eatable . As long as you wash it thoroughly , you’re able to sink your teeth into its mellifluous flavour with no prep and in no metre at all . Bite into it like you would a pear . Or , simply cut it into piece and snack on guava that way . Butunlike , say , an apple , there ’s no need to worry about spit out seed or face a baffling core . Those source that are sprinkled throughout the pulp can be eaten .
you could peel guava if you like , but as with all yield , there is nutritionary note value to be gleaned from the rind , so it ’s alone a issue of druthers . An alternative to peeling is to scoop out the build , same as you would smooch out a grapefruit or avocado .
Ways to Enjoy Guava
Eating guava as a fresh fruit is only the beginning of with child ways to fall in dearest with it . Terraza says , “ I do it to use guava in place of quince or pear in dessert recipe when I require to add together a tropical twist . It also makes an awe-inspiring tea . ”
In fact , strawberry guava tea has been proven to be as beneficial as it is delicious . In asmall - group study , guava leafage teatime was evince to effectively miserable blood moolah levels after a repast , with effects lasting up to two hour .
However , the fruit is sugary , making it a fantastic juice . Gomez spout , “ Guava juice is one of my ducky ! ” This fruit is a adorable addition to smoothies of any sort , and as juice or distilled down into a sirup . “ It ’s also amazing for cocktails , ” he says . Making aguava margaritaorgrapefruit guava bush fruit punchare great estimate for give your homemade assorted drink some restaurant or cocktail cake oomph .
Credit:BHG / Michelle Parkin
Gomez also like to get more imaginative by using guava bush for jams , sauce , and dessert . The lifelike pectin in guava makes it easy to release the fruit into a dark gelatin that ’s thick-skulled enough to be served in slices as an accompaniment to a tall mallow circuit board . It can be thinned out for baking , such as in pastry or cake as a level or flavour addition . A unwashed utilization of guava in parched trade good is as anempanada , which is often balanced with pick cheese .
In other savory applications , the sugar content of guava adds to the quick caramelization of meat that ’s been marinated in its succus or mess . or else , a sauce or glaze made from guava can lighten up the heaviness and complement the salt used with the protein .
And to keep matter simple , raw and unprocessed guava is tasty in tropical yield salads , and you could employ its succus or patch of the yield to flavor water ice pops .
Credit: Carson Downing
Guava Substitutes
instead , if your local market does n’t have whole guava for a recipe , true guava spread can be substituted in certain cases . Fruits with similar flavor profiles , include strawberries , papaya , pineapple plant , pear , quince bush , or a combining of fruits can also be swapped in depending on the recipe . For snacking , dried guava may satisfy that craving as well as its invigorated variant might .
How to Store Fresh Guava
Like any kind of fruit , your windowpane of opportunity to enjoy a thoroughgoing strawberry guava is limited to store . If your guava is already light green on the outside or has begin to show rosy traces , eat it right away , as you might only have a brace of days before it turns . Otherwise , set it in the refrigerator , sooner in the crisper draftsman , to slow down down its maturation . You may also cut it up and store it chilled in a sealed container , too , where it will last up to three or four day .
On the other hand , both Terraza and Gomez further immobilize advanced guava , which will preserve it for roughly eight months to a twelvemonth . Terraza advises , “ slice up it into four or six incision as you would an Malus pumila . ” And because it lacks a sum , you need n’t be afraid to go right down the middle .
Gomez advise freezing them in a sealed bag once shorten up ; other food expert paint a picture taking the spare steps of pare the guava first and freezing the section with simple sirup . you’re able to also store it as a puree instead . However , Gomez ’s favourite way is still to make guava into an easygoing jam . “ That elbow room , it lasts longer without ever being frosty . ”
How to Ripen Guava
Finally , if where you ’re shopping does n’t have any ripe yellow cattley guava , not to care . If your guava has n’t arrive at its prime state yet , you may leave it out on the counter away from sunlight and wait for nature to take its course . It wo n’t take long — rough a week at elbow room temperature . stash away an unripene guava in the icebox will extend the process by an extra hebdomad or two .
If use is more significant than conservation , you may give it a boost by wash off any protective wax , then storing them in a fold composition bag with a banana tree or apple . The ethene pass off by those fruits will boost the strawberry guava to mature .
