#ewew makes Ciku Juice

Ciku (chikoo or sapodilla) is a sweet fruit with yellow-brown flesh.  It's not as commonly found as other fruits selling throughout the year.  It obviously has many nutritional values but it's also a fruit you either like or dislike.

So, when I saw it being sold the other day, I got myself some.  I don't buy ciku all that often coz I don't really know if the ciku I choose is any good.  Some may take up to a week to ripen but yet does not yield a brown and sweet fruit.  The fruit seller apportioned them into small trays and I got this tray for RM5 (which isn't all that cheap either seeing how small the fruit is...we can eat it in one bite if we really wanted to as these were small ones).  Initially, there were eight fruits but he threw one more in coz I bought some other fruits from him too.

I like to eat ciku for their soft, sweet and juicy flesh.  I don't eat it often as they're (sometimes) too sweet. So, what I'd do is to try to eat them when they're not too ripe, that way they're less sweet.  People (generally) would like to buy (and eat) fruits that are very sweet...I'm one of those exceptions (some may even think I'm bonkers)!  But it has to be at least ripe (it's ripe when it's soft when pressed)....trust me, you won't want to eat it when it's not ripe.  The taste is downright horrible as there'll be this white-looking bitter taste (described as sticky latex) permeating through the fruit (this happened when I tried to cut one open when it was only a little bit soft and ended up with that sticky and bitter taste on my tongue)...yucks! >.<

The best and simplest way to eat this fruit is to just peel it and eat it, of course.  Ok, disregard the peeling part.  They're difficult to peel (especially when they're soft) coz they're too small to handle.  The lazy way would be to just cut it into half like you'd do an avocado or a kiwi (and save yourself all the trouble) and scoop out the flesh to eat.  That's how I do it...so much easier! ;)

As much as I like to eat fruits as they are, I like to drink fruit juice even more! ;)  So, let's make Ciku Juice out of em' fruits.  Well, why not!  Whenever we dine outside, we can order all kinds of fruit juices...but I rarely see Ciku Juice offered.  So, the only way for me to have some is to make it at home myself.  It's pretty simple to make, for one glass of juice, you need.....

3 small ciku...discard the seed, scoop out the flesh

(use very ripe ciku if you like your juice sweet)

Add 1 1/2 cups (or 200ml) water

And a few ice cubes (optional)

Then, blitz away.  My resulting concoction is light brown in colour coz I used ciku that weren't overly ripe.  It should be a darker shade of brown if you did use very ripe ciku.

The drink has a consistency that's not-too-thick and not-too-thin.  So, if you like it thicker (and sweeter), add more ciku or more water if you want a thinner consistency (though I wouldn't recommend that as it would reduce the sweetness of the drink).  I didn't use overly ripe ciku, so mine was just mildly sweet....which is just how I like it.

This ciku puree is kinda like a smoothie...just not as thick or rich.  It's a pretty nice, refreshing and healthy drink.....something a ciku fan would love! ^o^  The natural sweetness of the fruit means there's no necessity to add any sugar.

Give this Ciku Juice a go if you bought one too many and can't finish eating them.  Do not let the overly ripe ciku go to waste.  Once blended into a juice, they keep pretty well in the fridge.  #Tip: You may want to put the juice into a disposable paper cup coz it might leave some sticky substance on your glass that's difficult to wash off (I ended up having to wash the glass three times...haiz)! >_<