Tag: Fruit

Fruit

Pomegranates

Sonya Gwak

Pomegranates are a low ROI fruit for me. It’s delicious, it’s nutritious, it’s pretty, and the sweet and tangy bursts of flavor is a party in your mouth.

Selecting a good pomegranate involves careful consideration of color (bright red), skin texture (slightly leathery exterior without it looking completely dried out means it’s just right), heavier in the hand than it looks (I gently toss it a few times to feel the full weight of the fruit), and big (about the size of a softball). Apparently, it is also a secret weapon for beauty (The box featured here is a gift from Mom in the last care package she mailed me. It’s pomegranate concentrate made into jelly and individually packaged for easy transport and eating.).

The problem is that the time it takes for me to seed a pomegranate is more time spent than the time it takes for it to disappear. There is a Pomegranate Monster living in the house and they have an uncanny ability to gobble up every last seed before I get to have one spoonful.

There are many different ways to seed a pomegranate but this the method I use:

  1. Score around the top (the part where there is a small tube-like protrusion)
  2. Score the skin from top to bottom, about 5-7 scores, so that there are about 6-8 wedges
  3. Fill a deep bowl with cold water, enough to submerge the pomegranates
  4. Under water, pull apart the pomegranates at the scores
  5. Seed the pomegranates by sliding them off the skins with your thumb (they should pop right off).
  6. Toss the skins as you finish each wedge and rub off any white pith gently. The seeds will sink to the bottom and the pith will float to the top.
  7. Scoop up the seeds from the bottom with your hands. I found this to be the best way to make sure to get rid of any errant piths.
  8. Drain the seeds in a colander. Once drained (some water is okay) transfer into container and refrigerate. It takes about 10-15 minutes for each large pomegranate but at least the kitchen doesn’t look like a murder scene like it did the one time I tried to seed it on the counter.
A large colander of four seeded pomegranates.

There is also the “whack it with a wooden spoon” method but I had to stop doing that because inevitably, I would whack my left thumb with the wooden spoon. (This is probably why sports that involved a racket or stick never worked out for me.)

The Pomegranate Monster is the dude. He loves pomegranate. He speaks fondly about childhood memories of a bowl of pomegranate with a spoon in it for him after school. Once he spies the container of ruby red jewels and gets access to a spoon, it’s gone. I can’t eat too many at one time on account of the piths accumulating between my teeth. I have tried hiding my share occasionally but the Pomegranate Monster seems to know how to sniff them out, even when they are on the bottom shelf of the fridge. So I resign myself to savoring a few spoonfuls when I can and leave the rest to be hoovered up shortly.

I do this out of love.