Guava coconut chia pudding somewhat revitalizes the under-ripe fruit

childhood memory lane + questionable Costco decision + fruity breakfast

As many Americans, I end up at my local Costco once every two weeks. (In case you don’t have this in your area, Costco is a wholesale retailer in the US that carries large quantities of good brand items, including grocery, at good prices). Also, like many other people, I love browsing Costco aisle by aisle. Yes, I may see the same things each visit… but what if they had something new and I missed it? Such is my (and many other folks’) loyalty and enthusiasm towards Costco and its products. I adore this store!

On Monday, after browsing several aisles I finally ended up at the produce section near the fruit. I was eyeing some raspberries and deciding if I wanted them in large quantities. That is until my nose caught a scent. I lifted my head and slowly turned my eyes towards the source of this nostalgic aroma emanating from small fruits encased in a plastic container about 3 feet away. I gingerly stepped towards it with a huge grin on my face as my partner gave me a questionable look. The sweet smell of guavas in my line of sight and smell transported me down memory lane to a childhood trip to India.

My family hails from Northern India and took us on several trips to their homeland when we were kids. As kids I recall begrudging the long travel, the nosy relatives, the heat, the humidity, and being away from our American friends. We unfortunately did not appreciate the emotional need and satisfaction these trips assumed for our parents. However, we all always looked forward to the food! One of those foods happened to be Guavas, which were nowhere to be found in the US all those years ago. My aunt had a strawberry guava tree in her front yard that was fragrant and inviting. Each day we would pluck the ripe ones and devour them while sitting in the tree shade. I do not know how to describe the taste in this post as it is really like no other common fruit in the US. The pink flesh of the strawberry guava is sweet and squishy whereas the seeds are soft enough to eat. My aunt’s neighbors had the white guava tree but I almost always preferred the pink ones since I went through a pink-everything obsession as a little girl (I suppose as many little girls do!).

As I smelled the guavas standing there in Costco, I vividly remembered eating ripe guavas under the tree and laughing and smiling with my cousins. Nostalgia took over my brain and I immediately put two packs into my cart.

Side Story: On this particular Costco trip, I also saw something else that I had not seen in a long time. About 7-8 months ago I saw the Sambazon organic dragonfruit juice. I am not a big juice drinker but this one tastes mild and does not have any added sugars. I bought one 64oz bottle and really enjoyed drinking it at home. After that each time I went to Costco to buy it, they did not carry it. I had given up hope until this week. Not only did I see the dragonfruit juice, it was also on sale! I couldn’t contain my excitement as my partner gave me puzzling looks once again. I put one bottle in my cart. Then I decided I should probably get two since I’ll be drinking it after a long time. And then my brain went into over drive wondering if I would have to wait another 7-8 months before I could buy this juice again. I put four more bottles into the cart for a total of six! While I was smiling at my cart, my partner was giving me quizzical looks and walked away in exasperation. A few hours later when I come home, I looked back at my questionable quantity decision with a frown on my forehead while I facepalmed in disbelief several times. So… I am now stuck with six large 64oz bottles of dragonfruit juice that I’m pretty sure I’ll get sick of in a couple days. Any ideas for what to do with them? Please send help.

In the recent years, I am starting to see guavas a bit more in the US now, typically at Mexican markets, either imported from Mexico or Florida. These are usually a small round fruit. Once in a while I see guavas at Indian grocery stores that are imported from Asia, which are usually larger and pear-like in shape. None of these have ever compared to the flavorful fruit I ate in India on those trips. While the texture of the flesh may be similar, the flavors are usually muted and the seeds are too large and hard to eat.

As soon as I came home from the store I immediately had to try the Costco (Florida) guavas. I washed the softest one and took a bite. And this is where the nostalgia faded and disappointment rose upon my taste buds. The fruit wasn’t at peak ripeness that I remember, despite being very soft. The texture of the flesh was spot on but the taste was quite mellow, despite the fragrance of the fruit over-promising otherwise. While I knew at the store I could not expect the guava of my childhood to be in this mix, I still felt a bit disappointed at that suspicion coming true. To add insult to injury, I needed to consume all the guavas in some form sooner rather than later since I am traveling later this week. I would not be around to enjoy them, even if they ripened somewhat close to what I want them to taste like (that is if they actually ripen anymore in my kitchen). Without thinking much or any kind of plan, I chopped up all the guavas. I suppose I was too eager to see if ONE of them would live up to my nostalgia.

Let me take a moment to reflect on yet another questionable decision at the store when I bought two packs of guavas instead of just one…. sigh!

Half the guavas were ripe and very soft. There were even a couple pink strawberry guavas in the mix, so pretty! The other half were under-ripe and were neither sweet nor tart, instead they had the texture of the guava with a neutral flavor. I tasted both kinds and scratched my head for how to consume all of these mostly unripe not-as-tasty-as-nostalgia guavas.

My first thought was a smoothie. I tossed the guava slices into the blender imagining they would blend like other fruit… but as I learned (or really should have known) guava doesn’t have as high a water content as other fruits that blend well (like berries). I decided to add some coconut water to provide that water content. The guavas blended well this time. I then strained out the seeds as much as possible without losing too much of the pulp, although some seeds were too stubborn to leave. I tasted the smoothie and while the taste was ok… it wasn’t as excellent as other smoothies. I decided to turn this into something else.

I browsed my pantry for ideas with a pensive mindset. I noticed chia seeds in the corner and immediately knew I had to make a chia pudding.

I combined 1 tbsp of chia seeds + ~0.4 cups of coconut water + ~0.5 cups of guava smoothie mixture. I mixed this well and tossed it into the fridge overnight. To be honest, the color of this mixture wasn’t as inviting as I would want something like this to be.

I had this pudding for breakfast the next morning. While I did not care for the smoothie as much, I did enjoy this chia pudding more. It was creamy and soft with jelly-like swollen chia seeds. The coconut water helped and somewhat refreshed and revitalized the under-ripe fruit. Overall, it felt refreshing enough to eat in the morning before work.

While these guavas did not live up to my nostalgia, I still appreciated buying them and experimenting with them. I have a sneaky feeling I will never be able to relive my amazing guava experience in the US. For that I will have to wait to travel to tropical places that grow the right kinds of guavas and enjoy them during peak season.

In case you missed it, I used not-so-great and under-ripe guavas in a fruit chaat a few months ago that had better results than this dish.

So, have you ever eaten a good guava? I have not in many years and I wonder if I ever will.

Dish Debrief

• Is this my winner or disaster? neutral

• How would I rate this dish out of 10? 5 out of 10

• What would I change next time? find good ripe guavas

• Would I make this again? maybe, if the guava is right (I have a feeling I’ll be devouring guavas as fruits if I ever get my hands on good ones and never even think about this chia pudding).