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Pink leathery skin, then magenta flesh so saturated it stains the chopping board. Of all the dragon fruits this one carries the most flavour — kiwi, watermelon and a hint of sweet beetroot, with crunchy black seeds dotted through. Cold from the fridge it eats like sorbet you didn’t have to make.
The red dragon fruit (Hylocereus costaricensis) is the deepest-coloured of the pitayas, grown across Central America and increasingly in Vietnam and southern Asia. The flesh is hot magenta, dotted with edible black seeds the size of poppy seeds, and gives off the same beetroot pigment that turns smoothie bowls violet.
Flavour-wise it sits between watermelon, ripe kiwi and a clean melon finish — sweeter and more pronounced than the white-fleshed variety, less perfumed than the yellow. The seeds add a faint nutty crunch. Texture is somewhere between a pear and a soft kiwi: yielding but never mushy when properly ripe.
Chill before slicing — cold sharpens the flavour and firms the flesh. Halve, scoop, eat with a spoon, or cube into fruit salads, smoothie bowls and anywhere you want the colour. Skin not eaten.
