Tropical Thai Fruit Salad - Served in a Pineapple

For great tips on how to buy and prepare exotic tropical fruits such as pineapple, dragon fruit, star fruit, mango, etc... see my: Thai Tropical Fruit How-to Guide.

1. To make the fruit salad, peel and cut up the fruit you have chosen into bite-size pieces. (If you have carved a pineapple, add chunks of the carved out fruit to the mix.) Place fruit together in a mixing bowl.
2. In a cup, mix together the lime juice with the syrup or sugar.
3. Pour the lime juice/syrup (or sugar) mixture over the fruit and gently mix the salad. Do a taste-test, adding more syrup or sugar if not sweet enough for your taste. Note: the brown sugar may be a little granular at first, but the natural acids of the fruit will soon break it down.
4. If serving in a carved-out pineapple, spoon or scoop the fruit into the pineapple (reserve as much of the liquid as possible, since the extra may leak through the bottom of the pineapple. When actually serving up the fruit salad, you can spoon the reserved liquid over each portion). Garnish with a few leaves of fresh basil, if desired. Note: be sure to place a plate or bowl under the carved-out pineapple, as it may leak.
5. Serve this fruit salad on its own, or with yogurt, ice cream or whipped cream, and enjoy!
6. Leftovers will keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. This salad is perfect for breakfast (with yogurt and a little granola sprinkled over), for a snack, or for dessert.