About Malaysia Tropical Fruits - Page 01
Malaysia is never lack of fruits supplies through the whole year. Some of these fruits are grown locally here to serve the local market or other nearby areas and some are imported from the neighbouring countries or states. Almost all of the fruits can be found in any fruit stall by the road or in the market.
During fruit season, a visit to Centre Market is worth as you can see all kind of on-season fruits and of course not to forget to carry some with you when you leave.
Durian - 'King Of Fruits' The locals call this thorny football-size fruit as the 'King of Fruits'. The fruit is round to elongated green to greenish bronze in colour and covered with sharp spines. It normally contains 5-6 locules, each with 1- 5 seeds embedded in custard-like aril which is whitish-cream to orangey yellow in colour. Durian is a seasonal fruits seasonal fruit although commercial cultivation has made it available most times of the year. A ripe durian produces strong smell so bad that it is prohibited in most of the hotel and airplane in South East Asia.
Beside eaten fresh it is also produced into various traditional products such as durian cake, durian ice ream or the fermented tempoyak which is eat with the ulam. It is worth to have at least a try on this King of the fruit. A good durian is always creamy rich and little bitter.
Rambutan Rambutan is natively grows in Malaysia and Indonesia. This hairy fruits hang on branches on woody stalk and is round or oblong in shape. The hairy thin and pliable skin gains it the name, which ‘rambut’ means hair in Malay. It is usually in greenish colour and will turn to yellow or red when it is ripe. To eat the fruit, you have peel or cut the skin. The pearly white flesh of the fruit varies in quality and taste. A good rambutan is said to have firm and juicy flesh. Rambutan is usually eaten in fresh and raw or can be added to fruit salads or made into jams.
When you pass by any village area during the fruiting season, you can easily see clusters of Rambutans hanging on the trees, when it is ripe, the tree will actually look like a enlarged Christmas tree.
Manggis - Mangosteen Mangosteen is round in shape and the skin is light green when it is young and will eventually turn to reddish or dark purple when it is ripe. It takes about 15 years to grow a mangos teen tree before it is mature enough to produce any fruit. The flesh in the fruit is snowy white and nicely arranged in segmental form.
Each fruit will have normally 6-10 segments inside. It is delicately tasted and soft. There are stigmatic lobes at the bottom part of the external cortex that shows the number of segments of the fruit and will persist until the fruit ripens. Amazing! To eat the fruit, you have to cut the thick but yet soft cortex. Be careful with the purple colour juice excretes from the cortex when you open it, it will stain your cloth. It is also called ‘the Queen of Fruits’ in Malaysia and is believe to be cool (Ying) in nature and will neutralized the heat (Yang) from other fruit, eg. durian, the King of the fruits. This answers the doubt that why it is always bought when ones is buying durian. Mangos teen is always eaten in ripen. However there are villagers eat when it is unripe by washing away the latex produces from the unripe skin.
Duku Duku is round in shape and slightly bigger than a golf ball. It grows in clusters with a thick leathery skin which is in golden brown colour and can be peeled into segments when gently pressed on the top of the fruit. Each fruit composed of a few segments of juicy and refreshing flesh that is tangy sour to sweet taste. Some segments may contain small and bitter seeds.
The flesh is usually white but some are pink. Duku is originated from West Malaysia but it is cultivated through out the whole region nowadays. It takes about fifteen years for a duku tree to reach maturity; but the wait is worthwhile as they bear clusters of fruit twice a year thereafter. There are farmers blend both duku and langsat and produce a new innovation species, that is the Duku-Langsat which bears the characteristic of both duku and langsat. In Terengganu, duku is cultivated in Manir area in Kuala Terengganu. During the harvest season, there are lorries lining up outside the orchards as to collect and weight the fruits then distribute to other areas later.
Banana There are various type of banana can be found in Malaysia all with different name and appearance. For example Pisang Mas is the short and little banana, Pisang rastali and Pisang Tanduk are often made into fried banana and other dining banana such as Pisang Susu, Pisang Raja etc. Some bananas are even made into dishes together with its stem and flowers. Banana is available year round and it is always not expensive in price. Banana tree has a large expanded leaves, about 2.0 m long and 50 cm wide.
It has entire leaf margin and the leaf stalk elongated to form the leaf sheath. Because of the unique fragrance produced and the size, banana leaf is often used as wrapper to certain local food such as Nasi Lemak and Kuih Tepung Pelita. When buying a banana select that is slightly green, firm, and without bruises. If the bananas have a gray tint and a dull appearance, these have been refrigerated, preventing them from ripening properly.
About Malaysia Tropical Fruits - Page 01
