Pomelos (sometimes refer to as pummelos) must in season this time of year, just like many other citrus fruits such as mandarins and tangerines. It’s a nice treat to find such bright orange and yellow fruits in the drab of winter. Plus the extra Vitamin C is good to have around to stay healthy.
Pomelos can easily be found at many Asian grocery stores, usually priced at $3 each. The Chinese like to have pomelos around for their new year celebration. It symbolizes abundance and prosperity. Must be due to the size of this fruit!
I thought I had seen my share of giant pomelo, until I came across this one shaped like a bowling pin.
According to Purdue University horticulture department, there are many different cultivars of pomelo grown in Thailand. This one is call “Kao Phuang or Khao Phoang” meaning ‘White tassel’. This may be the only commercial cultivar of Thailand that is in great demand. As large amounts are usually exported to Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. Although many are also grown in Indio, California.
The pummelo is native to southeastern Asia and all of Malaysia; grows wild on river banks in the Fiji and Friendly Islands. It may have been introduced into China around 100 B.C. It is much cultivated in southern China (Kwang-tung, Kwangsi and Fukien Provinces) and especially in southern Thailand on the banks to the Tha Chine River; also in Taiwan and southernmost Japan, southern India, Malaya, Indonesia, New Guinea and Tahiti. - Julia F. Morton, Purdue University
