The tropical fruit Rambutan, Nephelium lappaceum, is one of Asia’s best known fruits. The Rambutan fruit looks slightly strange at first, encased in a rather tough reddish skin covered with bristly spines but the Rambutan flesh is succulent and sweet. Widely grown throughout S.E.Asia, Rambutan trees can grow to a height of almost 20 meters [Read More...]

The Jackfruit, Artocarpus heterophyllus, is an enormous tropical fruit which can grow up to about 3 feet in length. Native to S.E.Asia the Jackfruit is the largest tree borne fruit in the world. Jackfruit is the national fruit of Bangladesh. The outer husk of the Jackfruit is hard and spiny, green when the fruit is [Read More...]

The astringent Hachiya Persimmon and the Fuyu Persimmon, which is only slightly astringent when unripe, are both fruits of trees of the Diospyros genus. Diospyros means ‘food of the Gods’. The Fuyu Persimmon, Diospyros kaki, resembles a flattened and somewhat squared off tomato with deep orange skin and light orange flesh. Whilst there are several [Read More...]

Pitaya, better known as Dragon Fruit, is the fruit of a cactus of the genus Hylocereus. Native to Central and South America, Dragon Fruit are now widely grown in S.E.Asia. Dragon Fruit are available in several varieties. There are red skinned Dragon Fruit with red flesh, red skinned Dragon Fruit with white flesh and whilst [Read More...]

Tamarind is a very large and bushy tree with fruits that vary in length between 7 and 15cm. The fruits are encased in a brittle brown shell which can be prised open easily when the fruit is ripe. Inside this shell, the Tamarind fruit can have anywhere between 1 and 12 brown seeds depending on the variety.

Salacca is a tropical Palm Fruit known as Sala in Thailand. The species for this Palm Fruit is variously given as “Salacca Rumphii. wall”, “Salacca Zalacca” or “Salacca Wallichiana”. Salacca or Sala grows in clusters at the base of the very short stemmed Salacca Palm Trees which are native to S.E. Asia.

The Pomelo or Pummelo is an Asian fruit also known as Shaddock. Native to S.E.Asia the Pomelo or Pummelo (Citrus Maxima) is the largest fruit in the Citrus Family. This Asian fruit can weigh up to several kilos. The flesh of the Pomelo is similar in appearance to that of a grapefruit and can be yellow to pinkish red.

Sapodilla is an Asian fruit with a sweet taste slightly similar to a pear. Sapodilla (Manilkara achras), whilst not a native Asian fruit, is widely grown in many Asian countries. Apart from its fruit, the Sapodilla tree is famous for another byproduct, chicle, a latex type sap which at one time was the main ingredient [Read More...]

The Rose Apple, Syzygium samarangense is native to S.E.Asia. Common names for Syzygium include Wax Apple, Rose Apple, Malabar Plum, Malay Apple and Chomphu. In spite of the name, Rose Apple is not an apple, with neither the tree, nor the fruit nor the taste resembling an apple. The Rose Apple is a member of the Myrtaceae (Myrtle) family and there are several varieties with fruit ranging from white to pale green through to red and deep purple. As a rule of thumb when purchasing Rose Apples, the darker the colour the sweeter the fruit will be.

The guava fruit is round or elongated and the skin can be rough or smooth depending on the variety. The skin of a guava is light green to green, becoming yellow, green or purplish as the fruits ripen. The flesh is usually white, creamy and dense although there are some varieties with pink and reddish flesh. The unripe fruit is crisp but becomes softer as they ripen. Some varieties have many seeds, some just a few and others have no seeds at all.

The tropical fruit, Longkong, is very similar to Langsat and Duku which all belong to the Lansium Domesticum family. Longkong is cultivated throughout most of S.E. Asia. Longkong fruit is very slightly larger than Langsat with a thicker, easier to peel skin and does not have the sticky latex that Langsat skin contains.