Starfruit

This fruit is named for its five-pointed star appearance when cut into crosssections. Its flavor ranges from tart to barely sweet, and it always has a light astringency that causes the mouth to pucker. In Vietnam, unripe green starfruit are sliced very thin and used as a tart flavoring with pan-fried foods like “sizzling pancakes,” Bánh Xeo. Carambolas ripen to canary yellow and sometimes exhibit a slight orange hue. It is at this level of ripeness that they are eaten as a fruit or juiced for a beverage. Although the fruit is irresistibly attractive when sliced into decorative star shapes, it’s actually more delicious to chomp along the elongated ridges of the whole fruit, yielding long, seedless, juicy pleasures. Thai: mah fu-eung; Malay: belimbing; Vietnamese: khế