What is Arazá?
Arazá, or Guayaba Amazonica, is a soft yellow fruit that grows on small trees right here at the Yachana as well as throughout much of the Amazon of South America. It’s season “peaks” 3-4 times each year. They have an extraordinarily beautiful smell- somewhere between a citrusy pineapple, peach and passionfruit. They are tender and bruise easily. They are valued as a traditional Amazonian fruit. Arazá are sour and generally considered too acidic to eat straight off the tree but we have found they make excellent juice and delicious jam. Some of our local friends like to eat slices with salt, but i’m pretty sure that’s an acquired taste, haha.
Nutritional Benefits of Arazá
Arazá is full of vitamin C, potassium, Vitamin E and fiber.
How to eat Arazá
Our favorites for enjoying arazá is as a batido (a fruity milk-based drink) or as jam on homemade sourdough bread!
This article on Arazá fruit is part of a series of tropical, exotic fruits found in Ecuador’s Amazon. Read more about all the sweetness we’re finding!
Batido de Arazá or Arazá Fruit Milk Drink
If you are visiting the Amazon certainly ask around for it. If you’re lucky you’ll find a small smoothie shop selling “batidos” which are usually made from a yummy fruit mixed with milk and added sugar. You may order “juice” and they’ll ask if you prefer it made with water or milk. Either one is a great choice.
Ingredients
- 1 medium Arazá fruit. A ripe fruit will be yellow and soft. Remove the peel. It will slip off, similar to the way a peach skin does.. Cut in half and remove the seeds. There really isn’t a pretty way to do this, just get your fingers dirty and separate out the seeds. Add the pulp to the blender.
- 4 cups milk
- 3-5 Tablespoons sugar or honey, to taste
Blend in blender, with added ice if you prefer. Serve immediately.
Arazá Jam
We had heard that Arazá makes good jam but couldn’t find a good recipe so we just jumped in and tried. Wouldn’t you know it has a natural pectin and gels beautifully. The yellow fruit turns into a gorgeous orangey-pink color. We love it on pancakes in the morning or on our sourdough sandwich bread. I think it would also be tasty stirred into yogurt or over vanilla ice cream. I’ve got some big ideas of making enough to supply the Yachana lodge kitchen as well, so come as a guest to stay in the Amazon and have some Arazá jam right here with us!
Ingredients
- 6-8 medium Arazá. A ripe fruit will be yellow and soft. Remove the peel. Cut in half and remove the seeds.
- 5 cups water
- 5 cups sugar
Add all to a large pot and place on medium heat. (The fruit will break up until it’s quite smooth. If you prefer a really smooth jam without the fruit chunks, you could blend the arazá pulp with a cup or two of the water to begin with and then add it to the pot with the remaining water and sugar). Bring to a simmer, stirring often. Keep at a slow simmer for about an hour. Foam will begin to show and that can be scraped off, if you want. It will make for a prettier end product, but can be left if you don’t mind. Many jams react similarly and as I spoon it off it gives me- and all of us- a chance to taste the jam. Which is great. Continue to simmer for about an hour, stirring regularly. It won’t necessarily noticeably become thicker, but if you spoon some off and let it cool, you’ll see the texture gel as it cools. And just finish cooking it when it’s to the thickness you prefer. This batch will make about two and a half pints of jam. I put one in a container for the freezer (remember to leave space inside for it to expand as it freezes) and the rest will last several weeks in the fridge. I expect it could be canned for longterm shelf storage, but you’d want to look up safe details about canning it, taking into account your altitude, etc.
If you are able to find Arazá, I’d love to hear how you liked it and how it was prepared!
