Famous Pomelo Cat Hat!
The pomelo tastes like a sweet, mild grapefruit, though the typical pomelo is much larger in size than the grapefruit. It has very little, or none, of the common grapefruit's bitterness, but the enveloping membranous material around the segments is bitter, considered inedible, and thus usually is discarded. The peel is sometimes used to make marmalade, or is candied and sometimes dipped in chocolate. The peel of the pomelo is also used in Chinese cooking. In general, citrus peel is often used in southern Chinese cuisine for flavouring, especially in sweet soup desserts.
The Chandler is a Californian variety of pomelo, with a smoother skin than many other varieties. An individual Chandler fruit can reach the weight of one kilogram. Pomelos are usually grafted onto other citrus rootstocks, but can be grown from seed, provided the seeds are not allowed to dry out before planting. The seedlings take approximately 8 years to start blooming and yielding fruit.
The tangelo is a hybrid between the pomelo and the tangerine. It has a thicker skin than a tangerine and is less sweet. It has been suggested the orange is also a hybrid of the two fruits. Other pomelo hybrids include grapefruits and mandelos.
The pomelo is native to South-East Asia and is known there under a wide variety of names. In Vietnam, two particularly well known varieties are cultivated; one called bu?i Nam Roi in the Trà Ôn district of Vinh Long Province of the Mekong Delta region, and one called bu?i da xanh in Ben Tre Province.
In the Philippines, the fruit is known as the sujâ, or lukban, and is eaten as a dessert or snack. The pomelo, cut into wedges, is dipped in salt before it is eaten. Pomelo juices and pomelo-flavored juice drink mixes are also common.
In Thailand, the fruit is called som-oh, and is eaten raw, usually dipped into a salt, sugar and chili pepper mixture.
In Malay and Indonesian, the pomelo is known as limau/jeruk bali ("Balinese lime/orange") after the island of Bali. The town of Tambun in Perak, Malaysia is famous for pomelos. There are two varieties: a sweet kind, which has white flesh, and a sour kind, which has pinkish flesh and is more likely to be used as an altar decoration than actually eaten. Pomelos are a must during the mid-autumn festival or mooncake festival; they are normally eaten fresh.
In Bangla, in Bangladesh and West Bengal, pomelo is known as a jambura (????????) or batabi lebu (?????? ????). Unlike the Malaysian variety, the white flesh jambura are sour and pink flesh jambura are sweet in this region.
It is also known as the sai-seh' (elephant grapefruit) among the Kuki people and Zou tribes in Manipur and Chin states of Myanmar (Burma).
In Chinese, the fruit is known as yòuzi , although the same Chinese characters can also be used for the yuzu, a different species. The Japanese refer to the pomelo as buntan or zabon , apparently both derived from the name of Cantonese captain read Sha Buntan in Japanese, who is said to have introduced the cultivation of the fruit to Japan in the An'ei era (1772–1781). The Chinese use pomelo leaves in a ritual bath, which they believe helps to cleanse a person and repel evil.
In Assam it is known as robab tenga in Assamese). It is a popular after lunch snack once its sprinkled with salt and sliced chillies. In rural areas children often use it as a soccer ball.
In Manipur, nobab is used as a major source of vitamin C. This fruit holds a high place in the culture and tradition of Manipur. Many religious rituals seem incomplete without this fruit. In Tamil Nadu, it is locally called as gadarangai. It is more commonly used for making pickles together with salt, oil, red chillies and other spices. In coastal Maharashtra, especially in Konkan, papanas are a major substitute for oranges, and mostly eaten sprinkled with salt and/or sugar. The fruit is known as chakotha hannu in Kannada and dabba kaaya in Telugu. In Malayalam it is known as "kambili naranga".