Fruits of South-east Asia

The South-east region has some fruits which I had never seen or eaten earlier. With a distinct taste and looks some offered a challenge to my palate. But most of them are quite tasty.
I have not covered all fruits of that region but have some commonly found and the ones I tasted.

Palmfruit:
The palm nut might look like coconut at first glance.

 I have never cut open a palm fruit but inside nestled are brown colored palm fruit.Very similar to coconut jelly, the sweet palm fruit is sweet without any flavor of its own. You need to peel off the whitish brownish skin before eating.

Unlike coconut jelly, palm fruit surprisingly keeps well in fridge for almost a week and does not get sour.

Salacca:
Salacca has a scaly reptile sort of skin hence also called a snake fruit. After removing the hard scaly skin, a creamish white hard two or three lobed is seen which is chewy and has a strong flavor resembling a jujube.
Indonesia produces a very good and big sized salacca. I was told that plucking the fruit is very difficult since the palm fonds have huge thorns and the fruit grows in the center. The plucker has to find his way through the huge thorns.

this is how they are attached in a cluster

They can be seen on shelves from February to July.

Durian:
A very typical fruit of this region is durian. With an overpowering smell, the fruit is strongly liked and equally disliked by people. Kampot produces the best durian in Cambodia. The fruit is quite expensive, selling the lowest price of $5 a Kg and considered an exotic fruit.
Due to its strong smell, most of the hotels in the region restrict serving and even getting it inside the hotel room.

Durian gets its name from Malay word, "duri" which means spikes since the whole fruit has spikes all around.

the small piece priced at $18!

Durian can be smelt from a distance even with its intact skin. The overpowering smell is due to the presence of huge amount of sulphur and that is why it has health benefits. It is truly said if you like durian, you like it a lot or you hate it. Giving a parallel to its smell, I can say it is a combined smell of onions with a flavored mango and a smell of strong hydrogen sulphide.

The best time to enjoy durian is from May to July.

Langsat:
A fruit which grows in bunches, has a light brownish skin which is peeled off to reveal whitish translucent segmented fruit with a small seed inside.

langat with skin

peeled and segments separated

The seed is not supposed to be eaten. The fruit itself is sweet with a slightly tart flavor. They are available from July to October.

Rambutan:
Rambutan is a fruit with a hairy skin. The unripe fruit is green which turns red on ripening.

rambutan tree with unripe fruits

The tree looks beautiful once the fruits ripen, green leaves with red fruits.

The name rambutan is derived from the Malay word "rambut" which means hair. A cousin of lychee with hair, the outer skin is peeled off before eating. The white transculent fruit is juicy and sweet with a stone in the center which is not edible.
You can enjoy eating them from May to September.

Lychee:
Lychees do not need any introduction. Native of China these fruits can be seen for a short time during the months of May and June.

The thin skin needs to be peeled off revealing a very sweet, translucent fruit with a wonderful flavor. A favorite dessert is ice cream paired with lychees.

Longan:
A relative of rambutan and lychee, longans have almost a transparent flesh with is visible after removing the thin outer brown skin. A black seed is visible inside.

The fruit itself is sweet and juicy with a delicate flavor. June to August is the time when you see them.

Dragonfruit:
Belonging to the cactus family, not a native to this region dragonfruit is very commonly seen in the markets of South-east Asia.

 I have seen two varieties, red and white. Red, I feel is more tasty. Black seeds are scattered throughout which you eat along with the flesh. Sometimes the fruit can be bland as well.
They are in market throughout the year.

Passion fruit:
Again not restricted to this region, passion fruit is enjoyed by most people for its sweet and a sweet smell.

The variety is slightly sour and is made into a drink. Available throughout the year.

Mangosteen:
Queen of fruits in this region is mangosteen. With a purple outer skin, the inside is white with 5 to 6 segments like the cloves of a garlic!

whole fruit

fruit cut in half

The fruit is sweet, juicy and tangy. The rind is supposed to be made into tea having the property of lowering cholesterol.
They are seen from July to October.

Sweet tamarind:
Thais and Cambodians love sour fruit like raw mango slices, tamarind which are eaten with a mixture of salt, sugar and fresh red pepper. I too have adopted that and eat most of my fruits with that. The salt is available in supermarkets but you can make it yourself as well which I always do.

sweet tamarind sold in bags

This type of tamarind is not used in cooking as it is too sweet. My husband and I usually enjoyed having them while watching a movie. My mouth drools looking at the picture :)

Preserved jujubes:
The jujubes which are green when fresh are preserved in sugar syrup and eaten as a candy.

Domnablokchitt:

The Attap fruit comes out from Nippa or Nyapa palm tree found mostly in marshy places thus getting its name the Mangrove Palm fruit.

The soft fruit is preserved in sugar syrup after which it becomes translucent, chewy and crunchy. It is eaten as a topping on ice creams or desserts but having it just on its own is also very nice.

Jambolan plum or Black plum or Java plum or Jamun:
Not a fruit restricted to Cambodia, black plum or jamun is grown throughout the Indian subcontinent.

The fruit which is green becomes almost black when ripe.Your tongue becomes purple after eating a handful of the astringent tasting fruit. The seeds which are not eaten are widely used in Ayurveda where they are made into a powder for the treatment of diabetes.

Jackfruit:
Enjoyed throughout South-east Asia and in the southern region of India, ripe jackfruit has a flavor which is sweet with a strong flavor.

-

Apart from the above mentioned fruits, a lot of imported fruits is seen in the market. Apples, oranges, cherries, apricots, nectarines, grapes you find everything but at a premium.

Apart from these, there are more commonly seen fruits as the mango, custard apple, sapodillas, fresh green and brown jujubes, bananas, pineapples. Plenty of imported fruits strawberries, cherries, kiwi fruit, apricots, nectarines..... list is endless.