The Sunday Six: Amazing Asian Fruits
1: Water Apple
Probably the single prettiest fruit in Asia, these scarlet beauties have a mild, dilute taste and scent that’s like a combination of rose and, well, apple. Great to decorate a fruit salad. And almost as engaging as lotus seeds.
2: Mangosteen
Known as “the queen of fruits”, the mangosteen’s flavour is so legendary that Queen Victoria offered a reward to anyone who could bring her one that was fit to eat. The five white segments inside the reddish brown pith taste like lychee supercharged with pineapple, peach and citrus.
3: Durian
Known as “the king of fruits” the rotten scent of ripened durian means it’s banned from many hotels. Anthony Bourdain observed that after eating durian one’s breath smells as though you’ve been french-kissing your dead grandmother. The flavour’s surprisingly mild, reminiscent of syllabub, but something you should try at least once within your lifetime.
4: Salak
The snakeskin fruit! These grow in bunches at the base of a palm, and are sold all over mainland South-East Asia in season. The flavour? Less dramatic than you’d expect. Like a firm-fleshed, slightly floral apricot, with hints of melon.
5: Candied Nutmeg
Pala manis, in Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia, is the candied fruit of the nutmeg tree (the seed becomes the nutmeg spice, and its outer coating the spice mace). With the oomph of candied ginger, the camphorous tang of nutmeg, and a little spice heat under the sweetness, these little pale yellow slices are a must-try.
6: Rambutan
If you like lychees, you’ll love popping and eating these alien fruit. The flavour’s like a sweeter, more intense lychee, with a slightly firmer, but still gelatinous texture. The sort of thing you’d put in a Halloween punch and describe as eyeballs…
What are your favourite fruits to eat as you travel? Drop me a comment and let me know…
Oh, the pics aren’t quite right.
That’s not a mangosteen in the first pic.
I love mangosteens because they look like brains.
Do they have longans in Bali? Another one of my favourites. Like a cough syrup-flavoured lychee.
I like Longans, too. Bloody featured images… No, it’s a water apple. I just thought it would look pretty on the site, without thinking that not everyone knows what a mangosteen looks like, of course. I’ll drop in a mangosteen pic below the water apple now to lose the confusion. Thanks for pointing it out. I’d never thought of them looking like brains, though…
I love dragon fruit, the bright pink and lemon green skin and the white with black pips meat. I look like a kiwi, and it tastes like a kiwi, if you assume that the kiwi-taste is in the green colour:o)
I like the look of dragon fruit — they have some that are bright fuchsia on the inside, too. But I find it a little mild when I actually come to taste it.
Enjoyed this. When I first came to live in Tenerife many moons ago I bemoaned the lack of variety of fruits available compared to England, where every week seemed to be producing something new and exotic. In recent years they have begun to grow or import other fruits, and just when I thought I’d tried everything here you write about things I’ve never even heard of! Great. Now I have more to look forward to!
Soooo much more to explore! Other ones: longans, duhat… In a way, I wish I wasn’t limited to six, but I’ve landed myself with this regular weekly format and do try and stick with it…
Mangosteens are amazingly delicious, but those durians … those I can do without! Up there with my least favourite food smells, only exceeded by roasted silkworm larvae … bleeech! Anyway, back to fruit, I have to say I love the giant nashi pears that you can get in Asia.
Nashi pears? The soft and yummy ones? Yes, I can see that. Jealous of your Great Ocean Road adventure, I must say…
My favorites from Colombia: I fell in love with nispero, which kind of looks like a potato, but it tastes like a cross between a pear and a date. I also love uchuvas, which are tiny orange-like grapes which are sweet and sour at the same time. So easy to keep popping then in my mouth. Also love zapote which is related to the nispero, but is orange and fleshy inside. Of course, the papayas always excite me and Miro has become a mora (blackberry) addict.
YUM. they ALL look fantastic (well, except for the durian)…
Mmm… It’s a must try, but not a personal favourite…
I love Salak! But still haven’t braved durian fruit yet. I’ve been taking lots of photos of odd and lovely plants and fruit since arriving in Thailand…perhaps you can take a look at my bum…fruit 😉 ? Nobody has identified it yet.
I will take a look at your bum fruit! I am about to post a mysterious flower vegetable on our Facebook before braving traffic on day 2 of our 30 day visa extension quest… It’s not in our dictionary. Plus ca change….
I grew up in Indonesia and this makes me miss my childhood food so much. Durian is one of my favorite fruits. Longans (we call it ‘lengkeng’) are next. Mangosteens are great… and then there’s ‘Sirsak’ as well. We used to make icy drinks out of them. Ooooh, and jackfruit! Yummers!
Not so much a fan of sirsak (we call them soursop, I think). Jackfruit, I love as a vegetable – Gudek Yogya, bring it on! – but not so much as a fruit, too much on the stinky side for me. And longans so nearly made this list. I love the little fellas!