Mangosteens

Today's New York Times reports on mangosteens from Puerto Rico being available in NYC albeit at about $10 each.

Anyone know of any in Chicagoland?

I assume you mean fresh mangosteens. I have not seen them anywhere yet. However I have seen canned mangosteens at Golden Pacific. I think Aroy-D is the brand.

Only thing I've seen is canned Mangosteen Juice in the health supplement aisle in Costco

Mike Sula of the Reader is checking to see whether they'll ship to Chicago. At the moment, they're being shipped exclusively to NYC and LA.

Thanks for the heads-up, all! Sparky had a canned/frozen one from Grand Mart a while back and has been asking for them. He's consoling himself with lychees, but that's what he's really after.

Don't know if I can justify $10 for one fruit, tho...

I've bought frozen ones, about 4 dollars for a few pounds, at a place near the Argyle red line stop. Because the outer hull is so thick, I doubt freezing affects the taste much. I wish I could post an address but I can't remember which place it was, so just get off at the stop and wander.

You can get freeze dried mangosteens at Trader Joe's.....purple bag displayed with the nuts and other dried fruits. I cannot compare to fresh as I have never tasted, but they are quite yummy.

because of the risk of pest infestation, the dept of agriculture does not allow them to be imported from s e asia where they grow in very tropical humidity. they are trying to grow them commercially in puerto rico and just had the first crop picked recently which is why you're reading about it lately. fresh, they're amazing and for me @ least became an instant addiction when i was in india last year. i recently bought some in barcelona and i've seen them in chinatown in toronto, but never in the states. our loss.

fleurdesel wrote:Mike Sula of the Reader is checking to see whether they'll ship to Chicago. At the moment, they're being shipped exclusively to NYC and LA.

The grower Ian Crown emailed a detailed explanation for why his fruit aren't coming anytime soon, which I posted here

Village Creamery has Mangosteen ice cream this month, with chunks of fruit. Pretty tasty. VC has a lot of flavors, but because of a common base tastes a lot alike. But this one does have a unique flavor.

There should be some coming from Thailand soon since the FDA has just allowed (July 23rd) mangosteens from Thailand to be imported pending approval of irradiation, packing and shipping techniques.

NYTimes article here.

I kind of breezed over both mangosteen threads earlier, but then I ran across a pile of them at the food court downstairs (I'm currently in Hong Kong):



So I bought one for a little over HK$8 (about US$1.10) and took it upstairs. It's a tough little bugger, maybe two and a half inches across, and it's quite dense. I really had no idea how to approach it (except that I knew the skin wasn't meant to be eaten), so I just sliced it in half.



The skin was a lot thicker than I expected, and there were two large seeds, leaving very little edible fruit in between. But this is some good stuff. The texture is slightly reminiscent of lychee, but more squishy and juicy. As for the flavor, I'm with Erik's assessment on the last mangosteen thread. It's a flavor that's tough to define, and any attempt to do so doesn't do it justice. I got the kiwi and citrus that Erik mentioned, though it struck me as more milky than creamy (a fine distinction, I know), but only lightly so. I also got hints of peach, but again, I feel like I'm not doing it justice. It's a very complex but very mellow fruit, pleasant and refreshing and... just very pleasant. Sweet but not too sweet, tart but not too tart, creamy but not too creamy... an agreeable fellow in every possible way.

Neat stuff. Definitely check 'em out when they hit the States.

Hi, a friend mentioned he had heard that FRESH mangosteens are now available in the U.S. Has anyone heard of any available in Chicagoland? Thanks

excelsior wrote:Hi, a friend mentioned he had heard that FRESH mangosteens are now available in the U.S. Has anyone heard of any available in Chicagoland? Thanks

Well, they've been available for a number of years (from a boutique grower in Puerto Rico) but supply has been extremely limited and ABSURDLY expensive. I'd be curious to hear if the Thai mangosteens have finally hit, though.

I bought a bag of fresh mangosteens today from Saigon Oriental Market for $8.50 a lb. The proprietor said that mangosteen season started about three weeks ago and will last about three months. He said they just became available for import and that he intends to carry them for the season. I took the second to last bag he had, so you may want to call to see if he has them in stock before you head out to the store. The market also carries keffir lime leaves and other specialty herbs and vegetables in addition to their other grocery items.

By the way, I just tried a mangosteen. It was very good. It was sweet and tart, kind of like a strawberry-pear flavor, although it is definitely its own thing. He said they keep relatively well, but to keep them in the 'fridge or they will dry out.

All the best,
Jen Dath

Saigon Oriental Market
614 E Saint Charles Rd
Carol Stream, IL 60188
(630) 653-6355

H-Mart has frozen mangosteens on sale for 3.99 a kilogram this week.
http://www.hmart.com/coupon/coupon_even ... n_type=kor
(right panel, bottom left)
They were a far cry from the fresh mangosteens but still very good.

Just found a bag of fresh Mangosteens at Chinatown Market yesterday for $14.99 per 2.2lb bag. This gets you about 9-10 'steens. They are imported from Thailand, according to the label, not Puerto Rico, and taste delicious!

Chinatown Market
2121 S Archer Ave
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 881-0068

Also found some fresh mangosteens at Tai Nam (near Argyle and Broadway):



No green caps, though. It's from Thailand.

kanin wrote:Also found some fresh mangosteens at Tai Nam (near Argyle and Broadway):



No green caps, though. It's from Thailand.

You know, I knew those things looked familiar!! I was at the Broadway Supermarket last night to pick up some tea. They had those and I couldn't remember what they were! Instead, I picked up a chunk of jack fruit that was cut up and wrapped for sale.

Did you try them?

viaChgo wrote:Did you try them?

Yup. It was around 6.50 / lb, so it's priced similarly as in the chinatown grocery mentioned.

The quality was surprisingly good and definitely worth it. All the mangosteens (about 2-3 lbs) were consistently ivory white on the inside.

Some of the bigger cloves had huge seeds in them, though, but that can't be helped.
I wouldn't hesitate to grab a few bags if I see it again.

Not fresh, but Trader Joes on Grace/Lincoln has dried mangosteens available in a pouch.

We picked up a bag of frozen Mangosteens at H-Mart along with the picnic Durian - pulled some out this morning after breakfast and let them thaw on the counter.

I ate one right when it seemed to be unfrozen (perfect and delicious,) and left the rest for after dinner. The first two we tried, the fruit was lightly pink and they were only slightly bitter, but the bitter pulp from the peel had leached into the fruit on the remainder, coloring it dark pink and making the entire fruit tannic and unpleasant.

I'm not sure if it was the defrosting process had something to do with this, or if we got some over-ripe Mangosteens in the batch - one of the bitter ones had a cracked skin. Anybody know?

I was fortunate enough to visit Kauai and grab some fruit at the local farmer's market.

Mangosteens were plentiful and delicious as were the starfruit, fresh ginger, meyer lemons, and atemoya.





Edit for photos and identification of atemoya.

Trader Joe's had two kinds of dried mangosteens this week. Really.

Thanks for the photos. I've been meaning to try mangosteens too...I guess Asian markets might have them?

I've been really disappointed in the mangosteens I've gotten in Chicago. They all seem overripe and kind of bland
Had some good ones in Vietnam tho...

The BF (FI) Mike went nuts on mangosteens and mangoes this week in Singapore! How nuts? We are talking 3 kgs (6.6 lbs) of mangosteens and maybe 2 giant mangoes daily!

Though I must admit, they are pretty darn tasty...

My wife just came home from Whole Foods with a container of Rachel's Cottage Cheese, flavored with Pear and Mangosteen (produced in Broomfield, CO), made with mangosteen pulp. If it is at Whole Foods, it is officially trendy. Will Mangosteen be the new Acai, just as Acai was the new Pomegranate?

Will Mangosteen be the new Acai, just as Acai was the new Pomegranate?

Gary, I think you are a trendspotter. Martha Stewart magazine (yes, I have a subscription--but it was a gift ) has a column about mangosteen this month under the heading "Studying the next Superfood".
It sounds like there's no hard science behind it yet but some rheumatologists are finding it's juice helps with arthritis.