OPENING a mangosteen is one of life's ineffably delightful experiences, matched only by the pleasure of eating what you find inside.
Mangosteens are hard, round fruits slightly larger than golf balls. The skin is a dull, dark purple, sometimes scuffed with brown which makes them look as though they've been kicked around on their way to market. Clustered at the stem end are four prominent leathery leaf-shaped appendages (the sepals of the flower, to be precise). At the other end is a raised, pie-shaped pattern, of which the number of pieces in the ''pie'' corresponds to the number of segments of the fruit inside.
Inside are pristine white segments - much like a citrus in pattern - as tender, smooth and juicy as a ripe peach, but of unique flavour.
Origin. The mangosteen is a regional and seasonal delicacy, still defiant of entrepreneurial attempts to grow or ship it beyond its natural range. The tree grows throughout the Asian tropics but does not succeed elsewhere. The fruit perishes so readily that export is not profitable. Hence, only people in the right place at the right time can enjoy this treasure of a fruit.
In Singapore and Malaysia, mangosteens ripen about the same time as another regional, seasonal delicacy, such as the horny-rinded durian. Durains are nicknamed the King of Fruit (gwoh waang in Cantonese) and have considerable nutritional value but consumption can easily ''overheat'' a person's digestion. The perfect antidote is the cooling mangosteen, aptly nicknamed the Queen of Fruit (gwoh hau ). Both of these fruits are currently on sale in Hong Kong markets, and will be found side by side at traditional vendors' stalls.
Quality. First, check for signs of rot. Yellow juice oozing from the rind could indicate the inner segments have begun to decay. Second, check for ripeness by squeezing them gently (if not surreptitiously, under the eyes of the vendor). The rind should give slightly; those which are as hard as golf balls will probably be equally inedible. Finally, consider weight.
Heavier ones will be juicier because the rind itself, though thick, is light and porous. The colour of the skin varies from red to deep purple-black and seems to have no relevance to quality.
