Rambutan at The H Mart

The H Mart has rambutan -- the spiny Asian fruit that make for terrific conversation, even if they're just a few degrees from exotic grapes.

Rambutan are sort of like hairy, brightly-painted lychees. A moist firm fruit inside a stiff red shell covered with bristles. They're not sharp. They're actually fun to

The fruit come from the tropics, and they're fragile and expensive to ship, which means that they're available most of the time but really plentiful and fresh in high season. Still $7 a pound, but worth the money when the H Mart workers are pouring entire flats into the display on a weekday morning. The rambutan were delicious at the end of last week. Pick fruit that are relatively heavy and don't have any soft spots. I served them for dessert with a few pieces of chocolate from Sweet Cascades.

If you go the H Mart, check out my post about my favorite place for food or all the H Mart posts. Also check out the other joints in that shopping center -- like the Korean restaurant in Hanoori, the Mangoberry for yogurt, the Golden Krust for takeout Jamaican, and the Hanoori Home Plaza for bento boxes.

H Mart

800 N. Rolling Road

Catonsville, MD 21228

443-612-9020

NEAR: Rte 40 just west of I-695. If you are driving east on Rte 40 from HoCo, you'll see a Starbucks and a FedEx at the end of the shopping center. Turn right immediately after the Starbucks. If you miss it, just turn right at the next intersection.