10 Exotic fruits you have probably never heard before, you should try once

When most people talk about exotic fruits they usually think about mangos, bananas, or avocados. In all fairness, if you are living in a temperate climate, any fruit except apples, pears, and grapes can be considered exotic. Even so, there are plenty of delicious fruits out there most of you probably never heard about, yet fruits you should definitely try at some point.

Chom Chom (Rambutan)

This stunning fruit has a flavor and texture similar to lychee, with a soft and juicy pale interior. Easy to eat a bunch at a time, just peel away the thin outer layer to get to the good stuff inside.

Mangosteen

The mangosteen is a purple tropical fruit about the size of a tangerine. It has a tough inedible fibrous purple skin, and tender, white edible segments on the inside. The segments are sweet and juicy, and taste like a combination of lychee and pineapple, with subtle notes of vanilla. Mangosteens are local to Southeast Asia.

Pitaya Hylocereus

Pitaya, or dragon fruit, is a cactus fruit that can be found throughout Asia, Australasia, North America and South America, even though they are believed to be native to Mexico originally. There are two main types of pitaya, the sour types, typically eaten in the Americas, and sweet types found across Asia. The fruit comes in 3 different color varieties, Labelled as red, yellow and Costa Rican pitayas.

African Cucumber

African cucumber is a vibrant fruit, featuring a mosaic of green and yellow colors on the inside and bright orange on the outside. The taste has been compared to cucumber and zucchini, or a mix of banana, cucumber and lemon.

Jackfruit

Jackfruit may be prickly on the outside, but the inner fleshy part, in its unripe form, has a texture similar to chicken, making it a great vegetarian meat substitute.

Ackee

The Ackee fruit is mostly grown and consumed in the Caribbean region, mainly in Haiti and Jamaica where people consider it a national fruit. This interesting fruit can grow up to four inches in diameter and it looks surprisingly much like a mango fruit.

Aguaje

Aguajes, which are also Known as Buriti in Brazil and Canangucho in Colombia, grow on tall palm trees called the moriche palm. The palm tree grows in tropical swamps and produces small shiny reddish-brown fruit with scaly skin, resembling armadillos.

Buddha's Hand

The fruit is in season in winter, and can grow up to 12 inches. When split vertically, it reveals a white, juiceless and often seedless flesh.

Starfruit

Worth eating just because it looks exactly like a star when sliced, starfruit is also happens to be tasty. With flavors reminiscent of citrus fruit and plums, you can pop the whole thing into your mouth: seeds, skin and all.

Water apple

Also known as Thai wax apple, bell fruit and rose apple, the water apple is actually a berry. This pear-shaped anomaly is reminiscent of watermelon, with a high water content that results in a crisp and refreshing flavor.