Frightfully freaky fruit

[Susan G]

Fruit porn!

My favorite scary fruit is rambutan.............the hairy spines look like some deep sea creature!

[fifi]

When it comes to passion fruit, I have to say that there is great variation. Being a forager, I have picked wild growing passion fruit in Hawaii when there. There was a lot of difference in tartness and taste.

The sapote picture is from what was called a sapote at the fruit stand on Kauai. It may be a mamey but that is what they call it there. Yes, the flesh color reminded me of the many varieties of papaya that I had in Hawaii. However, the texture was more like an avocado but with a touch of sweetness that was enchanting.

[spaghetttti]

My favorite scary fruit is rambutan.............the hairy spines look like some deep sea creature!

Rambutan -- I suppose you know, Susan, that rambut in Indonesian means hair, so your favorite scary fruit = hairy fruit!

This morning I walked around the market that's on the way to the office, looking for rambutan. Not the right time for them now. But I did get some lengkeng, very very very sweet.

Edited August 31, 2004 by spaghetttti (log)

[SG-]

Fifi, I was at the Hilo farmers market last year and bought some surprisingly good rambutans and longans which were apparently grown locally, and were comparable to the ones in Asia. Saw some durians too but looked quite scrawny.

Do you know if they've are farming them on a scale sufficient for exports to the mainland or are they just for local consumptions?

[Pan]

Lengkeng=langsat? Duku?

I don't know why there are no good rambutans or magosteens to be found in New York. To my surprise, I discovered on my recent trip that really high-quality fruits of both types are sold in northern China, and apparently they're growing them in southern China now.

[spaghetttti]

Lengkeng=langsat? Duku?

How 'bout this: lengkeng = longan, langsat = dukuh.

Michael, when you were in Malaysia did you ever try langsat/dukuh?

[Pan]

Langsat and duku are similar but not the same in Malaysia (or at least the East Coast of the Peninsula). I did indeed eat both the first time I was in Malaysia, but not the second, when I think I missed their season. However, I enjoyed mata kucing juice (air mata kucing). Anyone know another word for "mata kucing" (literally ="cat's eye")?

[Laksa]

However, I enjoyed mata kucing juice (air mata kucing). Anyone know another word for "mata kucing" (literally ="cat's eye")?

Michael, funny how you should bring up air mata kucing when talking about longan. Coincidence? Mata kucing is longan, but in its dried form that's brown in color. Tell me you already knew that. Air mata kucing is simply a drink made from dried longans.

Incidentally, longan or 龙眼 is literally "dragon's eyes" in Chinese.

Edited to add: The chief ingredient in air mata kucing is extract of Luo Han Guo, a fruit found in southern China.

Edited August 31, 2004 by Laksa (log)

[Pan]

However, I enjoyed mata kucing juice (air mata kucing). Anyone know another word for "mata kucing" (literally ="cat's eye")?

Michael, funny how you should bring up air mata kucing when talking about longan. Coincidence? Mata kucing is longan, but in its dried form that's brown in color. Tell me you already knew that.

Nope, I didn't know that, but I guess I might have suspected something. Strangely enough, I've never liked fresh longans!

[spaghetttti]

Luo Han Guo

Uh huh, whenever I have a sore throat, I brew up and drink a concoction made out of that stuff. Very effective, I must say.

[eunny jang]

This is an extraordinary thread. Amazing. I love eGullet

[SG-]

However, I enjoyed mata kucing juice (air mata kucing). Anyone know another word for "mata kucing" (literally ="cat's eye")?

Michael, funny how you should bring up air mata kucing when talking about longan. Coincidence? Mata kucing is longan, but in its dried form that's brown in color. Tell me you already knew that. Air mata kucing is simply a drink made from dried longans.

Incidentally, longan or 龙眼 is literally "dragon's eyes" in Chinese.

Edited to add: The chief ingredient in air mata kucing is extract of Luo Han Guo, a fruit found in southern China.

If I'm not mistaken mata kuching is a different variety than longan, thinner flesh.

[Suzanne F]

Pan, I believe that fresh mangosteen, like fresh durian, are not allowed into the US. The ones I saw recently were in Canada. (Thank you for the picture, though, Spaghetttti!) However, on the weekend I saw fresh lychee (where from? the season used to be so short!), longan, and rambutan, in addition to the dragon fruit. NYC is really getting to be a cosmopolitan place.

[Pan]

Pan, I believe that fresh mangosteen, like fresh durian, are not allowed into the US.

I've seen fresh durian for sale in New York many times, though I've seen fresh mangosteen for sale here only rarely.

[spaghetttti]

This morning I got an early start so I took a long, roundabout way to get to work, and saw this

it's a sweet, ripe jackfruit cart.

A little scary, but definitely not the prettiest fruit I've ever seen.

A family operation -- Mom cuts and peels the rind. That's some huge jackfruit!

And then Dad takes over for the precision sectioning. This is a very friendly family and they were joking with me the whole time I was there. While he was cutting, he told me that he was performing meticulous surgery on the nangka .

Though it's not my favorite, jackfruit is very sweet with a pungent fragrance. I understand that it's also quite versatile. The young, unripe fruit is used to make a savory stew made with coconut milk -- a dish called gudeg, a specialty of Yogyakarta, Central Java.

Edited September 1, 2004 by spaghetttti (log)

[gingerly]

i love jackfruit-keep them coming spaghetttti! see if you can get your hands on one of these!

[spaghetttti]

i love jackfruit-keep them coming spaghetttti! see if you can get your hands on one of these!

gingerly --- Eeeewww, ahem I mean ... oooh, what in tarnation is that?

[gingerly]

frightful,freaky and flourescent!http://www.hortresearch.co.nz/products/cit...plasm/bhcitron/-hoping they're in your part of the world for a' first hand' account

[spaghetttti]

Thanks for the link, gingerly. How very interesting! I certainly have never seen it, however, I am now on a mission and will be wringing my hands wondering whether or not I will find them .

Edited September 1, 2004 by spaghetttti (log)

[spaghetttti]

Let's take a brief interlude from the frightful ---- to the delightful:

The starfruit (belimbing) is truly lovely. Elegant dancing stars.

But wait, they.......have......... eyes!!!!

and it looks like they're trying to get away!!!

(into the freak pool?)

[Suzanne F]

Pan, I believe that fresh mangosteen, like fresh durian, are not allowed into the US.

I've seen fresh durian for sale in New York many times, though I've seen fresh mangosteen for sale here only rarely.

Most likely the "fresh" durian you saw was actually frozen -- in fact, often you can still see the frost on it. If you saw fresh mangosteens, they must have been smuggled in.

[Pan]

Though it's not my favorite, jackfruit is very sweet with a pungent fragrance. I understand that it's also quite versatile. The young, unripe fruit is used to make a savory stew made with coconut milk -- a dish called gudeg, a specialty of Yogya, Central Java.

I believe on the East Coast of Malaysia, unripe nangka is sometimes used as an ingredient in Sayur, a savory side dish of green vegetables, starchy roots, etc., boiled in coconut milk with plenty of hot pepper. I know that Sayur is made in parts of Indonesia, too, as I used to make a recipe for Sayur Bayam (I forget the exact English name of bayam, but it's a red-and-green-leaf spinach-like vegetable) in Copeland Marks' Indonesian cookbook.

Suzanne, I've definitely seen many durians in New York that showed no evidence of having been frozen. Whether they had been frozen previously, though, I wouldn't know for sure. Do you have any idea why it would be illegal to import mangosteens?

[ronnie_suburban]

Do you have any idea why it would be illegal to import mangosteens?

Not 100% sure, but in many cases importation is restricted to prevent the 'pests' that might accompany a given item, from entering.

=R=

[Laksa]

i love jackfruit-keep them coming spaghetttti! see if you can get your hands on one of these!

gingerly, although some of the fruits that have been posted hitherto have been pretty scary looking, I could at least imagine eating them.

That thing you posted looks like a creature from my worst nightmare. My immediate compulsion is to run away from it. You have forced me to rethink my personal food philosophy of "fear nothing, eat everything".

[OnlyTheBest]

Yetty.... Thanks for the lovely pic I try to eat durian whenever i can get one. They are usually avilable here in the seattle area at the asian markets. It is usually the whole fruit....but i think they are frozen before they get here as i have seen frost on them at times over the years in other cities.

I have never had a black sapote but have been told that it has a similar flavor to chocolate pudding. I would love to get my hands on one. Have you ever had an ice cream bean? I am not too sure what the fruit actually is but it is suppose to taste similar to ice cream.

You are living in an area of the world that is fruit heaven. I once had a botanist friend that had traveled all over Indoneisa and he said all he did was eat amazing fruit all the time. Too bad we can't get some of the really strange ones here in the US.

Dragon fruit is fun to look at but tastes like nothing really. Where is that black sapote! I really want one of those.