How many have you tried?! 20 FRUITS you need to try in Rarotonga.

The beautiful fruits of Rarotonga are a huge part of everyday life here. There are fruit stalls dotted all along the roadside stretching right around the island. And if you take the inland back roads you can’t help but drive past plantations and orchards that showcase some seriously impressive tastes and colours ready to harvest!

We love the tastes and colours of the Pacific and feel like all of this incredible fruit needs to be tried.  So go, and be adventurous – take this list with you and let us know in the comments how many of these popular (and not-so-popular!) island fruits you have tried… 

20 unique and favourite fruits of Rarotonga

1. Soursop – kataraapa

I think we’d vote soursop as the most exciting looking fruit we’ve found in Rarotonga.  It’s a slightly labour-intensive input-for-taste-output kinda fruit, but well worth your while.  Soursop has an almost icecream-like texture – intercepted with large, smooth pips – so is even more tasty when it’s been cooled in the fridge.  

2. Vikavakava – sour mango

The first time we were introduced to vikavakava we tried the hard, green version of the less ripe fruit.  And the coolest thing about this fruit when its at that stage is that it’s literally so hard the best way to open it is to smash it onto the ground and crack it (seriously!).  

The word ‘vi’ in Cook Island Maori means ‘mango’ and kavakava is another word for sour.. A pretty apt description really!  These are a fruit from the mango family.  And unless you are tempted by the smash-fruit option to try these out(!) you can wait until they soften and turn a greeny-yellow colour and the flesh is less sour. 

3. Dragonfruit

Dragonfruit lives up to it’s exciting name in appearance and certainly stands out on any market table!  It’s easy to enjoy: just slice it and remove the thick rind.  The catch however?  Despite it’s seriously impressive presentation, dragonfruit is actually not very flavourful.  (Rather, it’s best enjoyed in a vibrantly coloured ice cream or smoothie!). 

4. Ice cream beans – koko

These bean-like fruits are amazing to look at and to taste!  The inside of the bean has many large black seeds that are easy to pop out, or to eat you can put the white flesh and the large seed inside your mouth and spit out the smooth seed.  

They definitely get some extra points for interest as well as a pleasant and slightly sweet taste.  

5. Breadfruit – kuru 

We LOVE breadfruit.  It’s the most unusual looking fruit (and admittedly can feel overwhelming to arrive home with such a large fruit to deal to) but seriously packs a punch with the different kinds of island foods and favourites that can be created from this humble (and kind of knobbly-looking) bright green fruit! 

Breadfruit is commonly used as a starch substitute and often made into island fries or hot chips, but the most common local way of eating breadfruit is in a stew-like soup served with corned beef and rice. 

If you aren’t feeling quite so adventurous you can also find breadfruit crisps at the local markets and stores which are crunchy and delicious.

6. Jackfruit 

Easily confused with durian (Asia’s famously stinky fruit), jackfruit is similar in size and colour on the outside but very different once open.  Jackfruit can grow to be the largest and heaviest of fruits in the world!  The skin is green and covered in ridged bumps while the flesh inside has a vibrant orange-yellow colour and a gummy-like texture.  It has a sweet and delicate taste. 

7. Balsam pear/bitter melon – menemene

I feel like this fruit deserves some serious points for vibrance and interest!  The English name depicts its taste somewhat (bitter) but it just looks so amazing and brightly coloured that the taste seems instinctively exciting. 

8. Sprouted coconut – uto

This is one of natures most amazing coconut treats!  Uto is quite literally the inside of the sprouted coconut (where a fallen coconut has started to grow roots from the nut inside and a small green shoot has started to sprout).  Uto is often referred to as ‘island marshmallow’ and is a delicacy all around the Pacific islands.  It does kind of have a marshmallow/candy-floss-like texture!  We love it and sometimes pack it into the kids lunchboxes as a snack. 

If you are on the hunt for something new to try I recommend finding some uto. It’s fast become one of our favourite fruits of Rarotonga!

9. Drinking coconut – nu 

These are a signature drink for any tropical island, but here in the Cook Islands the young coconut is referred to as ‘nu’.  It’s not hard to find freshly husked drinking coconuts at roadside stalls and the markets all around the island.  A husked nu ready to drink should cost between $3 – 5 NZD. 
 

10. Starfruit – raaparaapa

Slice your star fruit horizontally to reveal perfect starry snacks. As the skin is thin and waxy, it’s edible and only requires a rinse before slicing.

11. Island bananas – meika

Indigenous island bananas are much smaller, fatter and sweeter than their mainland relatives.  They’re often on sale all around the island at the small roadside fruit stalls and at the main Punanga Nui Market in town.  (Be sure to try some!). 

12. Guava – tuava

Island guavas are a small fruit (around 6 to 12cm in length) with a rounded shape.  The skin in smooth, thin and firm and ripens from green to a golden yellow colour when mature.  The ripe flesh inside turns pink and has many tiny hard (edible) seeds. 

13. Mango – vi

Mangoes are one of the Pacific superfruits filled with Vitamin A and C.  There are many different varieties across the Pacific but a favourite on the island is the sweetest mango – it has a prominent tip you bite off and suck the mango juice up through! (And I admit, it’s not just our kids who haven’t escaped that telltale yellow stain down your clothes… A sign of having devoured some fresh juicy backyard mangoes!). 

14. Pawpaw – ninita

Pawpaw are everywhere in Rarotonga! At times you can pass a pawpaw plantation where these delicious fruit are literally falling off the trees there are so many.  They can otherwise be found at any of the markets, roadside stalls and even commonly at the local minimarts and supermarkets. 

15. Tropical berries – poroporo/venevene 

These small dark purple berries grow wild around the inland areas of the island. Venevene is actually a translation for plum or cherry.  These small island berries are often referred to as poroporo vene, with the word vene meaning ‘to be sweet’.  

16. Pineapple – ara

Rarotonga and the outer islands (especially Mangaia) grow the most amazing pineapples.  Mangaia used to be completely covered in pineapple plantations and was a Cook Islands centre for export.  (We were baffled to see it was no longer viable for the island to plant and export these sweet fruits as it is inevitably cheaper to import them all the way from Asia!).  If you get the chance to try some local pineapple in Rarotonga you are in for a treat! 

17. Oranges (green) – anani

While they might appear intimidating, these island oranges are worth the effort. They can grow to be quite large, and turn from a shade of green to be tinted with yellow when ripe.  (They definitely get a few points for interest with the name disparity!). 

18. Passionfruit – parapotini 

Island passionfruit are quite different to the ones at home but I would describe them as one of the most satisfying fruits of Rarotonga.  They are much larger and rounder in shape with a paler flesh colour inside.  And they are also delicious and worth taking that huge bite to crunch into!

19. Noni – nono

Noni is a tropical fruit and common sight around areas of ancient lava flow in Southeast Asia and Polynesia.  Pronounced ‘NO-nee’, it’s a lumpy, mango-sized fruit that ripens a pale yellow colour.  It’s very bitter and has a distinct odour that is sometimes compared to stinky cheese (our kids call Noni, ‘stinky fruit’!).  Polynesian people have used noni in traditional medicine for generations to treat health issues like constipation, infections, pain and arthritis. 

It’s not quite on par with Asia’s famously stinky durian fruit; but it’s kinda up there!  (If not one of the fruits you beeline to try in Rarotonga, you will definitely spot noni trees all around the island).

20. Mature coconut – akari

Akari is the white flesh of the mature coconut. This is a fruit of many purposes and can be used on all kinds of sweet and savoruy island dishes – or just as a treat on it’s own. This must surely be the most iconic of all the tropical fruits, so if you havent tried this fresh from the coconut yet make sure you do!

Read more about the Cook Islands

• Reef walk in Rarotonga with Ariimoana Walkabouts.
• The Needle: A guide to Rarotonga’s famous Cross Island walk.
• Moving to Rarotonga: Everything you need to know. 
• Raemaru Mountain: The easiest hike on Rarotonga?

So how many have you tried?!  Leave us a comment below to let us know and tell us which one of these incredible fruits of Rarotonga you reckon look the most exciting!