Tropical Fruit Heaven

One of the great advantages of living in a tropical climate is the availability of tropical fruit. Most of the fruit are local so no guilt about eating UN-locally! The Boyfriend and I have been having our fair share of fruit that are mainstream back home: bananas, papaya, pineapples, watermelon and mangoes (which The Boyfriend professes to be THE BEST fruit!). They are all delicious! However, there is quite a bit of fruit that people might be unfamiliar with them that are just as good. So here’s a little round-up of some of my favourites:

Mit (jackfruit). Like durian, jackfruit can be a very big fruit, without the big, dangerous spikes! They also have yellow flesh, but much brighter in colour. You can pull strips of flesh around the numerous seeds. This fruit is incredibly sweet! It has a bit of a smell, not as strong as durian, but The Boyfriend likes this one!

Mang cau (custard apple). This fruit has many seeds but it is definitely worthwhile to eat it and spit them out. Its white flesh has a hint of pear taste and texture. It’s hard to describe these fruit since they are so unique. This picture is one of three that I got my sister to blow up as a birthday gift for my mom. It’s hanging in her new kitchen now. Can’t wait to do the same when I get home! Not only do these fruit taste good, but they look good too!

Chom chom (rambutan). These alien looking little fruit are similar in size as lychees or longan fruit. Similarly, they also have a seed in the middle and taste quite good, with a milder flavour. I recently bought some that were quite green; I was worried they were not ripe but was told that they’re Thai rambutan.

Mang cut (mangosteen). I had been awaiting mangosteen season since I arrived in Vietnam. I remember buying some in Bangkok and my ex-roommate loving it. The Boyfriend thinks its taste is reminiscent of plum. The six segments inside the thick purple shell have the perfect combination of sweetness and tartness. The only issue with this fruit is that a good portion will not be edible (not sure if it's because they're not ripe). So you have to pick them carefully (a soft shell is a good indicator of a ripe fruit).

Bon bon (langsat). My mom has suggested I buy this fruit but I didn’t get to taste it until The Gastronomer gave me some. They were delicious and I immediately bought 1 kg! These little fruit have a grapefruit flavour without the tartness. They also have segments which remind me of the mangosteen. The Boyfriend loved them when I brought them home. As for looks, they’re not very pretty; they look like dirty bruised longan. Their outer skin is soft like a fig’s though.