Do you want to know how to cut the best pomegranate possible? Here’s the place to be!
This quick and easy method will not cause your kitchen to be stained with red juice, nor will you lose valuable seeds. No spoon-whacking is required. Let’s get started!
What are Pomegranate Arils?
Fun fact: the juicy, vibrantly red morsels in a pomegranate, which are not seeds but arils (pomegranate arils), are technical. The small fibrous center part of the arils is what we call the seeds.
We’ll use both terms in this article since it’s common to refer to pomegranate arils as pomegranate seeds.
How to Cut a Pomegranate and Open It
Three steps are required to remove the seeds from a pomegranate:
- Score (cut) a pomegranate with the skin in quarters without piercing seeds
- Open the pomegranate gently along the cut lines
- Divide each section into sections to release seeds in a bowl
Ingredients
- One pomegranate whole
Instructions
- Set both a large, well-sharpened knife and a bowl of medium size (for the seeds) nearby. Place the pomegranate onto a clean surface such as a cutting board or work surface.
- The stem of the pomegranate should be facing you. Place your knife at the center of the stem and cut gently down, creating a plus sign or cross (+). Do not cut into the pomegranate. Just go through the branch. Now, using your cross line as a guide and piercing the skin only with your knife tip, score the entire pomegranate. Avoid cutting the pomegranate and hitting the seeds. Instead, cut the outermost red skin of the fruit. Repeat the process with the second line of the cross to score the pomegranate in 4 equal quarters.
- Gently begin to pull and break the pomegranate into four quarters. You can repeat the second step if you need to if you did not score the skin deep enough. After the pomegranate has been broken apart, you can easily separate each quarter and release the seeds in your bowl. Try bending back the quarter and “flexing” to remove any seeds that are stuck.
- Pick out the white pith from the pomegranate after you have placed all the seeds in the bowl. You can use pomegranate seeds on their own or in salads, fesenjan squash, and more.
- The seeds of a pomegranate can be stored in the fridge for 4-5 days and frozen for up to a month. (However, the texture will change with freezing).