Have you ever looked at a fruit and thought “How in the world do I peel that?” So you just end up paying more to buy the already peeled and cut up version? Only to find out in a couple days that the store peeled fruit has already gone bad while it sits in its own juices in your fridge? Well, I certainly have experienced this myself many times. Some fruits look very intimidating to peel, such as the pineapple. I love pineapple, but have avoided buying a whole pineapple just because I didn’t want to deal with peeling it. Fear no more. I will show you the techniques I learned from my mom, so you can peel your own pineapple to generate a beautiful design and less waste.
Tools needed
All you need are two sharp knives, and a cutting board. The large knife is used to remove the rind around the pineapple. The small knife is used to cut out the brown spots (a.k.a eyes) on the pineapple to give that beautiful spiral design.
Different uses for the pineapple
Some of you are thinking…what do I do with a whole pineapple??? You’d be happy to know that Vietnamese cuisine uses pineapple in many main dishes. For example, pineapple is found in bún bò Huế, and canh chua (more about this in a later post). You can check out my bún bò Huế recipe here.
The other thing you can do with pineapple is to grill it, then drizzle it with coconut milk (the whole fat kind, not the low fat kind). Yum 😍.
How to peel a fresh pineapple.
Equipment
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
Materials
- 1 whole fresh pineapple
Instructions
- Place the pineapple on its side.
- Cut off the bottom and the top of the pineapple.
- Place the pineapple on its bottom.
- Use a sharp knife to slice off the rind covering the pineapple.
- This will leave you with the brown spots or eyes around the pineapple.
- Notice the brown spots cover the entire pineapple in a diagonal fashion. Place a knife at a 45 degree angle, then make an incision into the pineapple to cut into one side of the brown spot. Repeat this on the other side of the same brown spot in order to remove it completely.
- Repeat step 6 following the brown spot spiral line until all are removed.
The secret to having the pineapple stay fresh longer is to avoid having it sit in its own juices. So make sure to pat it dry with a paper towel before storing it in an air-tight container in the fridge.
Did you find this technique helpful? Leave me a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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