Quandong
Deviating from our theme of vegetables, I am profiling a fruit for the letter “Q”. The Quandong is a fruit from the sandalwood family of trees that is similar to peaches. It is also called native peach and the fruit tastes something like a blend between a tart apricot and peach. Quandong is native to the Australian continent, where it grows as a small tree or bush. Theme Submit The fruit, having a stone seed is packed with the goodness of Vitamin C, much more than in orange and is used to make jams and sweet pie fillings especially in rural Australia. The jam goes very will with fish and meat dishes.
Quandong is a wild bush fruit that can stand arid soil and weather conditions. It is a hardy plant which can sustain drought conditions, is frost resistant and can thrive in poor quality soil and water. Quandong fruit is good for health as it is rich in Vitamin C; the kernel is rich in protein. It is also known for its medicinal properties. Australian natives drank Quandong tea as a purgative agent. An infusion of the roots of the tree was used as a treatment for rheumatism.
Here is a simple Sweet Pie Recipe using Quandong fruit as the filling.
The Recipe:
Quandong Sweet Pie
Ingredients for the Pastry:
- 1 ½ cups plain flour
- ½ cup corn flour
- ¼ cup castor sugar or icing sugar
- 150 gm butter
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp cold water
Ingredients for the pie filling:
- 2.2 lbs Quandong flesh
- 2 cups of sugar
- 2 cups of water
Directions for Filling
To make the filling, prepare the Quandong fruit by cutting out the thin outer flesh and discarding the seeds. (You could bury the seeds in your garden so you have a Quandong tree of your own.) Cook the ingredients for the filling in a saucepan or the microwave so as to reduce the fruit to a pulp. Set aside.
Directions for Pastry Dough
Make the pastry dough in the traditional way or use a food processor. Roll out the dough to fit a medium-sized pie dish. Line the dish with the pastry, fill with Quandong pulp, seal the top with the pastry dough and make a few holes on the top to let out the steam. Bake the pie at 200 deg C for 20 to 30 minutes till it turns golden brown.
Unfortunately, I could not locate the nutrition content for this recipe, but here is the Nutrition content for 100 gm of Quandong flesh:
Energy: 49.2cal
Protein: 2.5 gm
Carbs: 8.1gm
Fiber: 4.2gm
Sodium: 116gm
Potassium: 747gm
Calcium: 7gm
Phosphorous 11mg
Magnesium 28mg
Vitamin C