Feijoa - description
Feijoa is a juicy, fleshy green berry with light jelly-like pulp, the taste and aroma of which resemble strawberry, pineapple and kiwi at the same time. This applies only to ripe fruit. If you find the berries are not quite ripe, you should not be upset, you just have to wait a couple of days until they reach the desired maturity and become juicy and fragrant. To ripen faster, they need to be kept at room temperature. Feijoa fruits are quite large, about five centimeters in length and three centimeters in diameter, although there are berries and smaller or larger sizes. The color of the peel, depending on the variety, may be dark green or yellow-green, and the peel itself may be smooth or uneven.
The homeland of feijoa is South America. In Russia, this plant first appeared at the very end of the 18th century. Currently, it is grown in the Crimea, Krasnodar Territory, the republics of Central Asia, in the Caucasus. The fruits grow on a spreading shrub, about four meters tall. The plant is quite unpretentious, tolerates frosts up to 10-15 degrees. Feijoa can be grown as a houseplant, decorative species of which are not so high, the bush usually reaches a height of not more than one meter. Most often it is bred for landscaping balconies or a winter garden.
Feijoa - useful properties
Feijoa contains many trace elements, amino acids, fiber and vitamins, but its main wealth is iodine, and water-soluble, which is easily absorbed. Therefore, in the first place, fruits are recommended for diseases of the thyroid gland and in case of deficiency of this trace element in the body. Feijoa is also recommended for gastritis, inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, atherosclerosis, and avitaminosis. This fruit is rich in folates, so it is very useful for pregnant women and couples who are planning a baby. Of contraindications - idiosyncrasy, allergies.
Feijoa - caloric
Caloric content of 100 g of feijoa is 49 kcal.
Feijoa - use in cooking
From feijoa they cook tasty jam, prepare juices, jams, desserts, sauces, chutneys, pie fillings, and make compotes. Most often they use fresh fruit, which is cut in half and eaten with a spoon. These berries with a sweet-sour taste are harmoniously combined with meat, especially lamb, chicken, fish.
Examples of recipes from Feijoa
Recipe 1: Feijoa Chutney
This spicy sauce will turn the simplest dish into a bright and memorable one. To favorably emphasize the taste of the main dish, it is enough to add two or three spoons of this seasoning. Chutney is served in small sockets, or placed directly on a plate. Perfect with any meat, fish and boiled rice.
Ingredients: 500g feijoa, 1 red onion (it can be plain, just looks more elegant), 3 green apples, 100 ml of natural apple cider vinegar, 5 cloves of garlic, 2 tables. lies of vegetable oil and sugar, a piece of ginger (5 cm), black pepper, 1 pod of hot fresh pepper (or 2-3 pinches of ground hot), salt.
Method of preparation
In feijoa cut tails and cut the fruit into four parts. Remove apples from the core, peel and coarsely chop. Pour the fruit with vinegar and let marinate for twenty minutes.
Ginger cut into strips, onions - large lobules (or longitudinal straws, half rings). Pepper pod to remove seeds and chop into circles, garlic - into small pieces. Fold the chopped vegetables (except the pepper) in the pan and fry for about five minutes. Add sugar, feijoa and apples with vinegar. Reduce heat, add chopped chili pepper and simmer for twenty-five minutes. At the very end, salt and sprinkle with black pepper. Serve warm or chilled.
Recipe 2: Hot Feijoa Chicken Snack
Snack is a fragrant chicken fillet, fried in caramel and stewed in soy sauce with slices of lime and feijoa. Served on lettuce leaves and sprinkled with sesame seeds. If the salt of soy sauce is not enough, you can dosolit to taste. The whole dish is prepared in about fifteen minutes, but you must stand at the stove and make sure that it does not burn. Particularly appreciate this chicken lovers of Chinese cuisine, because it is very piquant and tasty.
Ingredients: 2 chicken breasts (600-800g), 4 tablespoons each. starch and sugar, 100 ml of water, 1 leek (white part), 1/2 lime, 6-8 feijoa, 3-4 tablespoons. soy sauce, 1-2 cu. lie sesame seeds, lettuce leaves.
Method of preparation
Breasts cut into slices of five to seven millimeters thick, leeks - ringlets, lime - slices. Sesame seeds in a dry frying pan dry-fry until golden.
Feijoa wash and cut into small circles (with skin).
Pour water into the pan, add sugar. As the syrup begins to caramelize and turn golden, put the chicken slices boned in starch. Fry, stirring, a couple of minutes on one side, then turn to the other so that the caramel will stick around the pieces. Then add the feijoa, mix and in two minutes put the lime slices. To preserve the aroma, close the lid and stew for two or three minutes. Next add the leek and pour in the soy sauce. Boil a minute or two and turn it off.
Lay lettuce on a plate, on them in a circle - slices of feijoa and lime, and in the middle place the pieces of breast. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Recipe 3: Feijoa Curd Cake
Delicious instant cake. Very tender dough and sweet and sour filling make this simple cake into an exquisite dessert. By the way, the dough is universal, suitable for another filling - from peaches, apples, persimmon, pears. And if you reduce the amount of sugar and add cheese, you can make khachapuri. Ingredients: 300-400g of cottage cheese (preferably low-fat or low-fat), a little more than a cup of flour, 200g of butter, 1 tea. baking powder, 100g of sugar, a pinch of salt, vanilla sugar. For the filling - 500-700g of feijoa, sugar.
Method of preparation
Mix cottage cheese with softened butter, flour, baking powder and other components for the dough. The mass should be elastic.
Feijoa, wash, peel and cut into slices or circles.
Grease the form. The dough is divided into two pieces, each of which roll into a layer. One lay on the bottom of the form, put on it feijoa, sprinkle with sugar. Its amount depends on the level of desired sweetness, but not very much (about three or four spoons). Cover with a second lozenge, firmly pinch the edges. Make a few punctures on the upper crust with a fork so that steam can freely escape and bake for thirty to thirty-five minutes (180C). Place the cake in a preheated oven.
Feijoa - useful tips from experienced chefs
- The peel of the fruit is very useful, contains strong antioxidants, but it is quite tart and has an astringent taste. To get rid of astringency, it is dried and brewed with tea.
- From feijoa you can cook a quick, tasty and healthy delicacy - live jam. The ground fruits (together with the peel) must be mixed with sugar, held warm for two hours to dissolve the grains, then eat the jam immediately or store it in the refrigerator. For 1 part of the berries you need to take 1 part of sugar.
