Adventures in Produce by Dior Ayala

Hidden Treasure

There is not much in the food world that I haven’t tasted, at least in the standard of what can be found in stores like H-E-B, H-Mart and the likes. But there are a few of them that have never made it to my plate, (mangosteen, salak, pandanus are actually the fruits I have yet to try) for the simple reason they are not available in the American or traded market near me.

The Rambutan fruit, from the Sapindaceae family, which includes fruits like the lychee, Alupag, Guaraná and many more mainly located in south-eastern Asia, is a tropical fruit found in the Malaysian-Indonesian region, and commonly cultivated in south-east Asia (wiki rambutan). A unique looking fruit that looks like a cross between a grape and a hairy frogfish!

Let me tell you about the might of The Rambutan. A thumb size fruit, with a spiky and rubbery exterior, the tough-looking outside is smooth to touch. This tropical fruit has color stages to show when it is ready just like any other; it will start off looking green, and progressively turn to a reddish hue the more mature it becomes.

The ones I have are a deep red, which is its ripe appearance, with a few more orangey-green ones. I watched a few YouTube tutorials on how to open it just to make sure that I would be eating them correctly or if there were other steps needed to be taken, so this time, all I would be doing is peeling and then eating them. Perhaps next time I could make them into a kind of jelly!!

Before doing anything to the rambutan, I noticed that the smell was quite earthy, very brown and warm, but when opening them up, a subtle sweetness came out. It felt like a foreshadow of what I would come to taste. 

To peel it, I used a small sharp knife to make a cut on the side, pushing a little gently to not cut all the way through, using my fingers to open it up so as to leave the inside intact. A smooth ball, like that of a skinless white grape was found. It was slippery and wet like soft gelatin.

The first thing I thought when I tried it was that the rambutan tasted very similar to a persimmon! It had a sweet and juicy taste. From the two that were less ripe, there was a small hint of sour tanginess besides the sweetness it had. Eating the rambutan, it was like a more solid and chewy cotton candy, because at each bite, it felt like it just turned to liquid, a fun surprise if a bit messy. 

It was so delicious that if I had not looked it up, I probably would have just chucked the whole thing in my mouth, never mind remembering that all fruits have seeds! Thankfully I didn't, the rambutan seed is pretty big, yikes.

The rambutan was a new experience for me, besides its unsightly appearance, so I just hadn’t tried it. But wow what a mistake!! If only I had tasted this amazing fruit years ago!! The taste was surprisingly delicious!