Tropical Fruit Cocktail Delight

This is another of my quickie "non-recipes." A "non-recipe" because I'm really just opening cans. But hey, even if I used fresh fruits, it would still only be a matter of chopping them anyway.

I'm not sure what other people would call this. It's just something that my family threw together as a quick dessert or cool-down snack during the summer. The "delight" in the name comes from one of my college friends. During one of our VSA (Vietnamese Student Association) movie nights, we served food to the non-VSA guests. I don't remember what was served. Come to think of it, I don't think I was there because I had a night class. My friend, in retelling the story, said the guests loved the dessert so much they kept asking him what it was called. So he came up with tropical fruit cocktail "delight" because it sounded catchy. And so it is.



Before jackfruit and other tropical fruits were easily obtained in the U.S., canned was the only way to get them. You can certainly use fresh fruits if you wish. And while you're at it, you can make your own almond jelly and grass jelly. Or you can be lazy like me and cook from cans. ;)

I like the contrasting flavors of the lightness of almond jelly with the grassy notes of grass jelly. Toddy palm or palm seed has a nice crunch. Robyn of Eating Asia has a great post about how palm seeds are harvested. I prefer longans over lychees precisely for that crunch.

This is a great way to try all those canned tropical fruits at the Asian grocery store that you've always wondered about. You can also add more typical fruits like peaches or pears if you like. The only caveat is that if you plan on using grass jelly, to add that just before serving as it'll stain all the fruits black and that won't look very appetizing.

Tropical Fruit Cocktail Delight

You'll need:
1 can almond jelly
1 can grass jelly
1 can jackfruit and/or palm seed kernels
1 can longans and/or lychees



The jackfruit and palm seed are already cut into strips. So you'll only have to slice the almond and grass jellies.



Slide the almond jelly out of the can.



Cut into big sheets.



Now, you can certainly continue cutting on the chopping board. But I usually take one sheet of jelly and place it on my hand. Then I cut it into lengths, then crosswise into big dices.



Dump all the fruit into a bowl and chill in the fridge. Or add ice cubes. And serve into cocktail glasses. Hehe. Is it just me or does the palm seed slice look like a snout? :P



Or into a bowl because I know you'll want seconds.



Enjoy!

And if this "non-recipe" offends your cooking skills, you can also try my Sweet, Sour, Salty, Spicy Tropical Fruit Salad.

I'm submitting this recipe to No Croutons Required, a food blogging event alternately hosted by Lisa's Kitchen and Tinned Tomatoes, celebrating vegetarian soups and salads.

The challenge this month is to make a soup or salad with fruit.


*****
1 year ago today, buttermilk biscuits from homemade buttermilk, a by-product of my homemade butter.