Posted by Teresa Cheng in asian, fruit and vegetables on September 28, 2008 at 5:16 pm

It’s not uncommon to be afraid of the unknown or unfamiliar. And foods from cultures different from one’s own are no exception. With Toronto being made up of numerous regional and cultural communities, we regularly cross paths with regionally-specific foods that we may not be familiar with, even if we’re just taking the streetcar through, say, Chinatown.

An integral part of Toronto’s cultural and economic landscape, Chinatown is full of foods that are new to many people. Without knowing what's what, shopping there can be a daunting task. I have picked some common and easily accessible fruits and vegetables found at shops in the neighbourhood that are probably unfamiliar to many, to explain and demystify.

A staple leafy green that Chinatown regulars never leave the area without is water spinach. The Mandarin name for water spinach literally means “hollow-hearted vegetable,” which perfectly describes the drinking straw-like stems. I feel confident in claiming that water spinach is the most commonly consumed green in Taiwan. Easy to grow and requiring little care, it has become a staple green in other regions as well, including Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. The customary and, in my opinion, tastiest way to prepare it is to roughly chop the vegetable and sauté it with oil and minced garlic. The Thai like to add shrimp paste to the simple sauté, giving it a nice strong kick.

The potato can be considered a staple starchy vegetable in North America. A close equivalent in Asia and a number of other regions in the world is taro. Light lavender in colour, taro is chalkier in consistency and nuttier in flavour than potatoes. It’s easy to overlook taro because of its rough, brown skin, which should be removed with a vegetable peeler before consuming. It is used to make cakes, puddings and dessert soups. An easy way to cook this vegetable is to cut it up into golf ball-sized chunks and add them to stews. For those who don't cook but still want a taste, taro chips that can easily be found in health food stores and in Chinatown supermarkets.

Bitter melon is like no other melon. It’s not sweet. It’s not full of juice. Like its name suggests, it is extremely bitter; there is no other way to describe it. Bitter melon is kind of like beets; you love them or you hate them. Similar in texture to bell peppers, the melon can be sliced and sautéed in black bean paste. In Taiwan, the sliced melon is usually scrambled with salted duck egg, creating a strong-flavoured dish that is perfect with plain congee. I hated bitter melon as a kid, but the more times I tried it, the more I began to like it. Bitter melon is in season right now, so it should be readily available for those who want to try it.

It’s hard to miss the fruit shops that extend out onto the sidewalks in Chinatown. What’s even harder to overlook (or avoid, depending on your attitude towards the hustle and bustle of the area), are the fruit shop hawkers, yelling, “You want??? Sweet! Very sweet!” the moment they see potential customers eyeing something they are selling. The hawkers aren’t just ruining their vocal chords for nothing though; the flavourful fruit sold in Chinatown ain’t no apples ‘n oranges.

Two fruits similar to lychee, a fruit more commonly known in North America, are longan and rambutan. Literally meaning “dragon eyes,” longan’s black seed shows through the semi-translucent flesh, resembling an eyeball. The flesh is white, semi-translucent and, at best, lightly flavoured and very sweet. The flesh is tougher than lychee’s delicate and juicy flesh. To get to the flesh, pinch the fruit hard between the thumb and index finger to break the thin and brittle casing. Longan is often dried, used in Chinese dessert soups, brewed for tea and in Chinese medicine. Rambutan is generally red in colour and cover in soft green spikes, resembling sea urchins. Rambutan most resembles lychee – very sweet and full of juice.

Always close by the rambutan and longan is the mangosteen. That’s the fruit with a round, hard, deep purple rind and a green “hat” top. The soft, white flesh inside the rind is sweet and tangy, similar to a peach. To open a mangosteen, first, score the shell with a knife. Then hold the fruit in both hands and gently crack it open along the scored line. While the fruit is quite expensive, especially taking into consideration how heavy the rind is, I highly recommend buying one or two for a taste. The flavour can be found nowhere else.

Often sitting toward the actual entrance of the fruit shops, farther away from the sidewalk, is the jackfruit. Jackfruit is expensive, and can get quite huge, so they are usually bought in halves or quarters. Like durian, the exterior of the fruit is spiky and hard. The yellow flesh inside is crunchy and very sweet. Jackfruit gives off a strong smell when cut open. However, unlike durian, jackfruit smells (and tastes) like a combination of pineapple and banana. Because the price of fresh jackfruit is so hefty, I suggest going in to the Chinatown supermarkets for some dried jackfruit chips. They are much cheaper and still so delicious.

Not convinced yet? Chinatown vegetables are known to be cheap, so just shell out a few dollars and experiment. As for the fruit, don’t be afraid to ask for a taste; the hawkers are happy to let you try the fruit I’ve introduced in this article. In fact, I urge readers to ask, because even the best food writer wouldn’t be able to describe the sensory-based experience of trying a new fruit for the first time.