Starfruit

About

Starfruit, or carambola (Averrhoa carambola), is the South and Southeast Asian fruit whose ribbed yellow body slices crosswise into perfect five-point stars. Skin and flesh are both edible; the seeds are tiny, soft and easily ignored.

Flavour & texture

Flavour is mild and refreshing — somewhere between green apple, gentle citrus and an under-ripe pear, with a juicy, almost waxy texture. It’s never going to be the loudest fruit on the plate, which is precisely the point: starfruit is a garnish fruit, a fruit-plate fruit, the visual hit on a cocktail rim or a pavlova top.

How to enjoy

Wash, trim the brown ridge lines off the five edges, slice crosswise. Eat raw, float on cocktails, scatter over fruit platters, or stir into a savoury Thai-style salad with chilli, lime and prawns. People with chronic kidney issues are usually advised to avoid starfruit — it contains a neurotoxin that healthy kidneys filter without issue.