🍉Fruit With Chamoy and Tajín: How to Make a Mexican Fruit Cup

What is fruit with chamoy and Tajín?

Fruit with chamoy and Tajín is fresh fruit cut into spears, served in a cup and dressed with lime, salt, chamoy and chile powder. Chamoy is a sweet, sour and salty Mexican sauce with chile, and Tajín is the Mexican brand of chile powder blended with salt and dehydrated lime. Together they give the fruit that street-cart flavor: sweet, tangy, salty and a little spicy in every bite.

In Mexico it's sold from fruit carts and corner stands, outside schools and on the beach, in a cup or a little bag. In the U.S., fruteros sell it from their carts under a big umbrella in Latino neighborhoods. A lot of people still call it fruta con chile, fruit with chile, even though these days it almost always comes with chamoy.

What fruit goes in a Mexican fruit cup?

A Mexican fruit cup mixes sweet fruit with crisp, refreshing produce: mango, jícama, cucumber, watermelon, pineapple and coconut are the classics. Each one brings something different:

Orange, cantaloupe or papaya also show up, depending on the season and what the frutero has that day. You'll find all the fresh fruit and vegetables at your grocery store; the Mexican flavor comes from the chamoy and chile.

• •Mango: the sweetest and the favorite. For spears, pick one that's ripe but firm.
• •Jícama: a root with brown skin and crisp, juicy white flesh and a mild flavor. It holds up the longest in the cup.
• •Cucumber: cool and watery, the perfect contrast to the chile.
• •Watermelon: sweet and juicy, a hot-weather favorite.
• •Pineapple: sweet and tart, a natural match for chamoy.
• •Fresh coconut strips: less sweet and firmer, for a change of texture.

How do you cut fruit into spears for a fruit cup?

To cut fruit into spears, peel it, cut it into thick slices, then cut each slice into strips as tall as your cup. The spears are eaten by hand or with a little fork, so they should be long and even:

• •Jícama and cucumber: spears about 1/2 inch thick. They're firm enough to cut thin.
• •Mango: slice the two cheeks off either side of the pit, peel them and cut thick strips. Whatever's left on the pit is the cook's reward.
• •Watermelon and pineapple: spears about 3/4 inch thick, chunkier because they're more fragile.
• •Use a large, sharp knife and a cutting board that won't slide: jícama is hard and mango is slippery.

In what order do lime, salt, chamoy and Tajín go on?

The order is lime, salt, chamoy, then chile powder. Lime goes first because it wets the fruit and helps the salt stick and spread; chamoy comes next because it's thick and coats everything; and chile powder goes last so it sits on top, stays visible and doesn't turn into paste.

If the chile goes on before the chamoy, it gets soggy and disappears. And if your chile powder already has salt, like Tajín, go light on the salt or skip it. With chamoy and chile, it's fine to add a little at a time and taste as you go.

Wets the fruit and helps the salt stick and spread

1. Lime

Go light, or skip it, if your chile powder is already salted, like Tajín

2. Salt

It's thick and coats everything

3. Chamoy

Last, so it sits on top and doesn't turn into paste

4. Chile

What other Mexican fruit snacks with chile are there?

Beyond the cup, the best-known Mexican fruit snacks with chile are the mango flower, mango with chamoy, the mangonada and pepinos locos. Here's what each one is:

• •Mango flower, or mango on a stick: a whole peeled mango on a stick, carved so it opens like a flower and covered in lime, chamoy and chile.
• •Mango with chamoy: cubed mango in a cup or bag with chamoy and chile. The simplest version of all.
• •Mangonada: the frozen version, with blended frozen mango, chamoy and chile in a rimmed cup. It has its own recipe on the blog.
• •Pepinos locos: cucumbers split lengthwise and hollowed out, then stuffed with chile candies, peanuts and chamoy. A party favorite.
• •With chile candy: some people finish the cup with Lucas candy powder, or an extra drizzle of chamoy for the kids.

How long does cut fruit last?

Cut fruit without toppings keeps a couple of days in the fridge in a tightly covered container; once it has lime, salt and chamoy, it's best eaten right away. Salt and lime draw water out of the fruit, so before long there's juice pooling in the bottom of the cup and the chile turns pasty.

If you're taking it to a party or the beach, cut the fruit at home, keep it cold and bring the chamoy, chile and limes separately to dress each cup as you serve. And don't leave cut fruit out of the fridge for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour when it's above 90°F.

Cut fruit without toppings, tightly covered in the fridge

A couple of days

Once it has lime, salt and chamoy

Right away

Max time out of the fridge

2 hours

Max time out of the fridge when it's above 90°F

1 hour

Where can you buy chamoy and Tajín in the U.S.?

You can buy chamoy and Tajín at Mexican grocery stores or online. Tajín is easy to find in plenty of U.S. supermarkets, but chamoy from Mexican brands and chile powders like Miguelito aren't always within reach.

MexGoodies carries Tajín's own chamoy sauce, Tajín Clásico chile powder, Chamoy Mega in a 1 kg bottle for parties, Miguelito chile powder and Lucas candy, all original products from Mexico, shipped anywhere in the U.S. in 3 to 7 days (Canada too). You bring the fruit, fresh and cold.

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