pomelos:-a-must-have-for-lunar-new-year
Inland Empire

Pomelos: A Must-Have for Lunar New Year

Pomelos: A Must-Have for Lunar New Year

This year, the Chinese New Year is a fifteen-day celebration of the Year of the Snake. It starts on January 29, the first new moon of the solar year. In Riverside, we will celebrate more than just Chinese New Year with our 13th downtown Annual Lunar Festival on January 25 and 26th to acknowledge the many East and Southeast Asian cultures that enjoy Lunar Year festivities at the same time. These cultures include the Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Singaporean, Malaysian, Filipino, and Korean. East Asian Lunar New Year celebrations involve various activities to bring luck for the following year: gifts, displays, dances, and fireworks. Not least of these traditions are displaying and eating lucky foods.

A typical lunar fruit display involves a large pomelo surrounded by oranges and mandarins. The pomelo may be the most auspicious of the New Year fruits because its Mandarin name, “you,” sounds similar to the Mandarin word for “have,” making it a symbol of prosperity and good fortune. Pomelos are especially fitting for a Riverside celebration because most U.S. pomelos are grown in southern California and southern Florida. I have even seen them growing along Dufferin in Riverside’s Green Belt. Given that the fruit evolved in Southeastern Asia, it makes sense that the global primary pomelo producer is China.

Despite being the object of celebration for almost two billion people, the pomelo remains poorly known to most Americans. So, let’s rectify that unfortunate situation by starting with some basics.  Pomelos are also known as “pummelos” or, in the West Indies, “shaddocks” after Captain Shaddock, who introduced them there. Their scientific name is informative, Citrus maxima, “the largest citrus.” 

Pomelo fruits are BIG. The large-fruiting varieties produce fruits that are bigger than a person’s head. The very largest pomelo fruits reputedly exceed 25 pounds (the reports may be apocryphal). Even the smallest fruit of the sixty-plus pomelo varieties is typically as large as a big grapefruit.

Pomelos are one of the five non-hybrid “original” species of Citrus from which almost all other commercial types have evolved via hybridization. Beyond pomelo, the other ancestral species are mandarin, citron, small-flowered papeda, and kumquat. For example, even if grapefruit is reminiscent of pomelo, all grapefruits are direct descendants of a single hybrid of a pomelo and a sweet orange. That is, all true grapefruits represent a single clone that has diversified by accumulated mutations.  Other examples of Citrus with partial pomelo ancestry are sweet oranges (including blood oranges), sour oranges, tangelos, so-called “Cocktail Grapefruit,” oroblanco, and some varieties of what we commonly think of as mandarins, such as Clementines.

In addition to its size, pomelos are distinct from other types of Citrus in a number of ways. In particular, they have a very thick bitter pithy rind and sturdy bitter membranes that separate segments of firm (sometimes so firm as to be characterized as “ricey”) flesh. They are generally seedy to extremely seedy.

Being one of the original species also means that pomelo, in contrast to a hybrid type like grapefruit, is an amazingly diverse species. The different varieties that you can find in Asian markets at this time of year vary tremendously among themselves.  Some are spherical, others have a distinct neck reminiscent of a butternut squash, and yet others look a bit like a partially deflated basketball – flattish on the bottom and a bit tapered on top. The external peel is yellow or green, with or without a red blush.  The flesh may be red, pink, yellow, green, or whitish. The most common flavor over the varieties is grapefruit-like but generally not as bitter. Nonetheless, if you taste one variety, you have certainly not tasted them all.  Some have no bitterness, others are sweet and citrusy, and yet others are sweet with floral elements. At the extremes are pomelos that are acidless and insipidly sweet versus those that are highly acidic.

Pomelo plays a significant role in Asian celebrations beyond the coming Lunar New Year. Its bright color and large size represent abundance. Here are just a few examples. Thailand celebrates its lunar new year in April – and yes, pomelos are featured. The Chinese Mid-Autumn (a.k.a. “Moon”) Festival includes the refreshing taste of pomelos to counterbalance rich moon cakes.  The Hindu celebration Chhath Puja of India and Nepal utilizes pomelo for its offerings as well as culinary refreshments.

Like grapefruit and certain other Citrus, most pomelo varieties contain a class of chemicals known as furanocoumarins. These are known for the so-called “grapefruit juice effect”; that is, furanocoumarins inhibit a human enzyme that naturally degrades dozens of medications. Consequently, medications remain in higher concentrations for a longer time, making dosages unreliable. Now you know why your doctor may warn against consuming Citrus while under a certain medication. The effect of grapefruit juice notwithstanding, many of us are capable of consuming a pomelo. Here’s how…

What to do with your pomelo 

Let’s say that you’ve procured your first pomelo, and you want to try it out.  The easiest thing to do would be to cut it in half and juice it. Juicing works for pomelo varieties that are juicy.  However, the ones with firm, ricey flesh won’t yield a lot of juice. Alternatively, you can see if your favorite Asian restaurant offers a pomelo-based drink.  The Greedy Cat/ Meat Lovers Barbeque and Fried Chicken Kitchen serves a delicious drink that is a tasty and simple way to sample a pomelo.

But why not be adventurous? The default way to cut a pomelo to extract its segments from the bitter membranes is straightforward.

  1. Cut off the top (stem end). Remember, the rind is thick. Take off at least ½ inch.  
  2. Cut off the bottom end. The rind will be equally thick.
  3. Score the remaining rind top to bottom about one inch deep, about 4 times equally around the fruit.
  4. Peel off the pithy rind with your hands
  5. Pull the segments free from the intersegmental membranes.
  6. Remove any seeds.
  7. Enjoy!
  8. REPEAT with a different pomelo variety to appreciate differences in flavor and texture.

Yes, there’s a website for that:

Happy Lunar New Year!

This article benefited from the guidance and advice of Dr. Nathan Ellstrand, San Diego State University, and Dr. Tracy Kahn, Curator of the Givaudan Citrus Variety Collection.

Resources used to create this article