Header Banner
WonderHowTo Logo
WonderHowTo
Food Hacks
wonderhowto.mark.png
Gadget Hacks Next Reality Food Hacks Null Byte The Secret Yumiverse Invisiverse Macgyverisms Mind Hacks Mad Science Lock Picking Driverless
Home
Food Hacks

Weird Ingredient Wednesday: The Alien Melon from Star Trek

"Weird Ingredient Wednesday: The Alien Melon from Star Trek" cover image

Mother Nature's creativity is infinite, especially when it comes to fruit. We've got black sapote, which tastes like chocolate pudding, and Buddha's hand citron, which looks like Freddy Kreuger's digits merged with a lemon. How could she possibly top herself?

Well, check out this piece of fruit—and yes, it is a piece of fruit and not an egg-pod dropped off by our soon-to-be alien overlords:

Open it up, and the weirdness/beauty continues:

This, my friends, is a kiwano, or an African horned melon (Cucumus metuliferus). And yes, it was once featured on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as a Golana melon (episode name: "Time's Orphan").

Weird Ingredient Wednesday: The Alien Melon from Star Trek

ST: DS9/CBS Television

This spiny, spiky fruit is native to South Africa and is actually a member of both the cucumber and melon families, as befitting its sturdy yellow rind and gelatinous-looking insides. It's now grown in several different areas and is called a kiwano in New Zealand, a melano in Israel, and a cuke-asaurus in Washington state.

Despite its spiky armor, kiwanos are very pleasant to eat. As befitting its multiple names, the fruit is mild and sweet and can taste like a cross between melons, cucumbers, limes, and bananas. The entire fruit is edible, including the peel, but many people choose to scoop, spoon, or suck out the jelly-like insides and spit out the seeds. (Note: the kiwano is ripe when it turns orange.)

Kiwanos work great in fruit salads, smoothies, and desserts, like this kiwano-orange eggless ice cream from It's Yummi:

Cucumbertown went and made this kiwano-grapefruit cocktail, which looks perfect for summer:

If you're more about savory dishes, Food Network has a recipe for grilled beef with horned melon sauce. And What's This Food? has a great twist on General Tso's Chicken called, of course, General Kiwano Chicken:

Have you tried this beast of a fruit?

Get More Weird Ingredient Wednesday

Intriguing weird ingredients can chance how you look at food. Check out finger limes, aka the caviar of citrus, these surprising mushrooms that taste like candy, and the long-fermented delights of black garlic.

Apple's iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 updates are packed with new features, and you can try them before almost everyone else. First, check Gadget Hacks' list of supported iPhone and iPad models, then follow the step-by-step guide to install the iOS/iPadOS 26 beta — no paid developer account required.

Related Articles

Comments

No Comments Exist

Be the first, drop a comment!