And a little tropical fruit fun!
Have you ever tried guayaba arazá lisa?
This uniquely brilliant orange beauty of a fruit (Eugenia victoriana) has almost as many names as it has uses! Depending on where you live and who you are speaking with, you may hear it called many different names. Here is a partial list:
- guayaba arazá lisa
- arazá
- guayaba yogurt
- sundrop
- guayabilla
Where I live it is called guayaba arazá lisa, but Whatever you call it, it is an amazingly prolific fruit tree!
It produces around 4 times a year and yields a highly acidic fruit that is delicious when sweetened and prepared in a variety of ways! Its flavor is undoubtedly tropical, and it reminds me a bit of Hawaiian Punch when I make it into juice. It is kind of like pineapple, mango, and passion fruit all rolled in one. The flavor seems quite astringent and tart on its own, though, so I wouldn’t recommend eating it out of hand!
Other deliciousness made from guayaba arazá lisa
I make lots of desserts from this fruit… puddings, granola bars, ice cream, cookies, just to name a few! However, one of the guys’ favorite desserts with this fruit is my sundrop mesino lime pie:
Drop me a note if you want to see how I convert the sundrop (guayaba arazá lisa) fruit and a few mesino limes into this delicious pie!
But…. my husband is also crazy for the hot pepper jelly!
The hot pepper jelly uses our chocolate habañeros along with this tart orange fruit! I use this recipe based on a cousin fruit called arazá (in this case the yellow Eugenia stipitata— not to be confused with the orange guayaba arazá lisa fruit in the same genus). Yum!
But perhaps you might be interested in something a bit savory, a bit sweet, and a bit sour! One of my favorite uses for this fruit is my sweet and sour Asian style sauce! It has a distinctly tropical, complex flavor that is absolutely reminiscent of the classic sweet and sour sauce you likely already know. It has more oomph though and a beautiful orange color naturally provided from the fruit itself!
You can use it as a dipping sauce, or you can use it to sauce up your favorite protein or veggies!
Or maybe you prefer it with shrimp and Costa Rican frying cheese?
Sound good? Alright, let me walk you through how I make the sauce!
Pin it now to save it for later!!
Sweet and Sour Sauce?
Yes, the tartness of this fruit makes a delicious Asian style sweet and sour sauce! Here is what you will need:
- coconut (or other) oil for cooking
- garlic
- ginger
- guayaba arazá lisa/ sundrop fruit / guayabilla
- natural sugar
- soy sauce
- Sriracha sauce
- turmeric
- mandarina lime (aka Rangpur lime)
- water
Now with our ingredients assembled, let’s get to cooking!
How do you make Sweet and Sour Sauce from this fruit?
To see how I turn this tart, orange fruit into one-of-a-kind, special sweet and sour sauce, check out the YouTube video below! Remember to click like and subscribe on YouTube.
The full recipe is on the bottom of this page. I would love to be able to give you nutritional content on this recipe as well, but as you might imagine, there isn’t much detailed nutritional information out there on some of these exotic tropical fruits!
Where can you buy guayaba arazá lisa trees?
This USDA Zone 10-11 tree can be found in local plant nurseries or online, depending on where you live. You may need to ask for it under its many different names.
Costa Rica
You can find these trees for sale at various plant nurseries. Here are two locations that offer this tree:
United States via Internet
At the time of writing, at least one vendor has the tree for sale on Etsy in the United States.
This store also has seeds in the United States.
Sweet and Sour Guayabilla Sauce (Sundrop Fruit/ Guayaba Arazá Lisa)
Notes
This bright orange fruit from the species Eugenia victoriana has different names depending on where you live. In some areas it is known as guayaba arazá lisa, but it is more commonly known as sundrop fruit or guayabilla around the world.
Recipe yields approximately 1 1/2 cups of sauce
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger, minced
- 1 cup blended and seeded guayaba arazá lisa (aka guayabilla or sundrop fruit) (from 3-5 fruits– you don’t need to peel the fruit)
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons natural sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce
- good dash turmeric
- 1/4 cup mandarina lime juice (from 1 mandarina lime aka Rangpur lime)
Instructions
- Heat coconut oil in a small or medium pot.
- Sauté garlic and ginger a few seconds until aromatic.
- Add blended guayabilla/ sundrop fruit then rinse container with 1 tablespoon water and pour into pot.
- Add sugar, soy sauce, turmeric, Sriracha, and mandarina lime juice.
- Cook until glossy and thickened, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes.
- Serve with your favorite protein (chicken, pork, fish, shrimp, chickpeas, Costa Rican frying cheese, etc) or steamed veggies. This sauce is also good as a dipping sauce for egg rolls!
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