Cut a Kiwi
The kiwifruit, also known as a Chinese gooseberry, looks unappealing at first glance. However, its furry exterior holds a delicious treasure inside, a pretty green (or golden) flesh flecked with black seeds and a white center. There are numerous ways to cut a kiwifruit, depending on whether you like to leave the skin on or off, eat the fruit straight away, or use it for decorative purposes. This article explores some of the techniques.
Contents
Steps
With the Skin On
- Buy or grow a kiwifruit. The fruit should be a brown-green color and have short, fuzzy hairs. Hold it in your palm and give it a light squeeze to feel whether the kiwifruit is soft. If it's too soft, it might have gone bad. Try to pick a medium soft kiwifruit as it will be just right to eat straight away.
- Wash the kiwifruit. Washing the kiwifruit ensures that any possible contaminants on the skin, such as bacteria, are not transferred to the fruit itself. This way you will not get sick.
- Chop the kiwifruit in half, across the widest part. Use a clean, sharp fruit knife and a chopping board. Depending on the ripeness of the fruit, the knife should cut right through. If it's still a little hard, you may need to slice again to cut through the core.
- At this point, you can eat the kiwifruit as it is, scooping the flesh out of the skin with a spoon, like you would eat a boiled egg.
- Some people prefer to remove the small, black seeds from the kiwifruit, but this is completely optional as the seeds are perfectly edible.
- Cut the kiwifruit into circular slices. For smaller, more decorative slices of kiwifruit, cut the entire fruit into circular slices, working from one end to the other, discarding the end pieces. Then cut through the diameter of each circle to form small, kiwifruit semicircles.
- These kiwifruit slices make a great addition to a decorative fruit salad and add a splash of tropical color to the tops of cakes, pavlovas and other desserts.
- They also make a great bite-sized snack for small children and work well in school lunches. If you want to remove the skin before chopping, just follow the method below.
With the Skin Removed
- Cut the ends off the kiwifruit. Place the kiwifruit on a chopping board and carefully slice off both ends of the fruit, using a small knife. Don't worry about wasting the fruit, you will need to expose a decent amount of the kiwi fruit's green flesh in order for this method to work.
- Insert a spoon between the skin and flesh of the kiwifruit. You can use a regular tablespoon to do this. Try to get the spoon as closely underneath the skin as possible, as this will make the fruit easier to remove.
- Rotate the spoon around the kiwifruit, beneath the skin. This will loosen the skin from the fruit. Depending on the size of the spoon, you may need to work on one side of the kiwi first, then switch to the other side to loosen all of the skin.
- Pop the fruit from the skin. Once all of the skin has been loosened, you should easily be able to slide the entire kiwi fruit out, leaving you with a perfectly smooth, cylindrical fruit.
- It is also possible to just peel the kiwifruit with a knife, but you will inevitably remove some of the fruit doing it this way, and end up with a strangely-shaped kiwifruit.
- Slice the kiwifruit vertically in half. Then slice each half again to form little kiwifruit wedges, perfect for fruit salads or a prettily arranged fruit plate. Alternatively, you can easily dice the kiwifruit into cubes of any size.
Video
Tips
- Look out for the golden variety; these are usually smaller than the green variety, have a smooth brown skin, yellow flesh and a sweeter taste.
- Every part of the kiwi fruit is edible, even the fuzzy skin.
- If you have a soft kiwifruit, be aware that it tends to have a more tingly feeling in your mouth than the hard kiwis.
- Kiwifruit can make your mouth tingle a little bit; it is helpful to serve this fruit with a drink, such as water or milk.
- Kiwifruits contain an enzyme that tenderizes meat. This enzyme also prevents setting, so don't add kiwifruit to homemade ice cream recipes, jellies or jams or they won't set.
- When using Method 2 "With the skin removed", you can make a slit between the fruit and the skin to make it easier to insert the spoon.
- Make sure to use a sharp knife; dull knives are harder to cut with and can make a mess.
- The skin can be removed easily if the fruit is dipped into boiling water for about 60 seconds.
- Consider buying a kiwi knife. One part is used to cut the kiwi, while the other part is a spoon. It's great for kids because the knife part is not too sharp, but sharp enough for the child to cut and enjoy his or her kiwi.
Warnings
- Use a sharp knife to cut with; a dull one can easily slip.
- Wash fruit before you eat it to remove potentially harmful bacteria. Let it dry well before cutting. Drying with a paper towel will not remove enough moisture because of the fuzz.
Things You'll Need
- Cutting board
- Paper towel
- Sharp knife
- Spoon (optional)
