Whenever I see pomegranates, it reminds me of the house I grew up in, in Vietnam. Our third floor balcony had a pomegranate tree. I know what you’re thinking…a tree in the third floor balcony? Well, the houses in Vietnam are not like the ones in the US in that they are not individual, stand alone houses. Instead they are more like townhouses, or rather a bunch of townhouses strung together. Because they were not wide, they had more than one story and of course, a balcony on each story. Since the walls were connected, in theory your neighbor can climb into your balcony. But that’s a story for another time.
So when I saw the pomegranates on sale at the grocery store, I had to grab all of it 😁because my son loves it and they’re usually too expensive to purchase.
What is a pomegranate?
A pomegranate is a round fruit with a red-purple outer shell. When you cut a pomegranate up, it reveals an inner, soft white layer where red seeds are attached. These red seeds are called arils.
How to remove arils?
Removing the red seeds is a bit time consuming at first. There are many methods out there that you can use to remove the arils, such as the whacking method. Yep. Just cut the pomegranate horizontally then place half of the pomegranate in your palm. With a wooden spatula in the other hand, hit the outside of the pomegranate and arils will come flying out.
Although this method works, I still find myself coming back to removing the arils by hand…plucking it off. I find it relaxing…somehow 🤣. So how do I manually pluck the arils off? I find it’s easier to start with cutting the pomegranate horizontally. This exposes the arils and the individual star like section in the pomegranate.
Then using my hands, I slowly and gently peel back the outer layer and pluck the arils out. This method allows you to see and discard any arils that are brown and only keep the ones that are bright red.
Pomegranate juice & health benefits
Pomegranates are low in calories and fat, yet high in fiber, vitamins and minerals. At first my son and I just ate them as is for snacks. Then one day he asked me if I can make him a glass of pomegranate juice, and this is how we went through a massive pile of pomegranate in a week.
I don’t have any fancy juicing gadget to use, so I modified by using my Ninja blender. After removing the arils, I placed them in the Ninja blender and turned it on until everything is finely ground.
Pour the juice into a fine mesh strainer to remove all the pulp. Use a spoon to push down on the pulp. This helps squeeze more pomegranate juice out.
Discard the pulp and pour the juice into a glass & enjoy.
Pomegranate Juice (Nước Lựu)
Equipment
- 1 Ninja Blender
Ingredients
- 1 fresh pomegranate
Instructions
Instructions to remove the pomegranate arils
- Wash the outside of the pomegranate then use paper towels to pat it dry.
- Cut the pomegranate horizontally in half to expose the arils in star like sections.
- Gently peel back the star like section and use hand to pluck the arils out. Repeat until all the arils have been removed. Discard any arils that are brown.
- Put all the arils in the blender and blend until it's a smooth consistency.
- Pour the juice plus pulp into a fine mesh strainer.
- Using a spoon, push the pulp down to squeeze out any remaining juice.
- Pour the collected pomegranate juice into a glass & enjoy.
The next time you see pomegranates at the store, grab some and make your own pomegranate juice. If you like this post, feel free to share it on Facebook by using the button below. Or if you’ve made pomegranate juice before, leave me a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
For more “how to” posts, check out my fresh lemongrass, nước chấm (Vietnamese dipping sauce) and pickled daikon & carrots posts.
