Jungle Fruits!

Do you like fruit?  Check out some local South-East Asian favorites...

I live in a larger town now than I did the past few years, but that doesn't mean there's any shortage of cool and unusual, sweet and deliciously sour fruits on the local market tables.  Here are a few of my finds this year - some are totally new to me, while some others are just a new species or variation of a known (and loved) standard.

Without further talk, here are 21 awesome fruits I have had so far this year.

Why not start with my favorite - Bael Fruit.  I found this in the woods on a morning bike ride, on a vine, 5 of them to be precise, and not knowing what they were I brought them back to town to ask first.  After being given the go-ahead, and I might add there was some jealousy in their eyes as well (I did share 2 with the elderly man), I busted open one of the most amazing
fruits I have ever tasted.  The honey-like ultra-sticky sweetness was beyond compare, unbelievably sweet smell to go with it, this was a precious treat from nature to be sure.

And next I will pick the most beautiful of these fruits, Dragonfruit is well known to me, but
sometimes I am lucky enough to find this red species.  With eyes closed, I could not actually
tell them apart, which is ok with me, as the grayish white ("normal") version of this fruit is already a personal favorite.  If you haven't tried it, I think of it as either a giant and ultra-juicy strawberry, or a
sweeter and less sour kiwi.  Fruit doesn't get much more beautiful than that huh?!?  I bought this
in a smaller village, also on an exploratory bike ride near the town of Phayao, Northern Thailand.

Hanging out in my friends garden.  His fish pond is behind me, and he breeds these Papaya trees to be very short,
easy to reach, as well as producing these round and fat papayas.

Thailand once was known for having the largest number of identified species of Banana.  This banana has large black seeds
inside, and the flesh is a light purple color.  You can see the distinctly triangular shape, as well as the huge thickness.  The amazing sweetness of this one floored me, and their not being sold in stores just makes them all the more special to find!

Called 'Sour Cucumber,' or so I was told, and it tasted pretty bad I must admit.  I think the one that I ate
must have been far from ripe.

I almost forgot this, one of my favorite finds for sure!  Actually its usually given to me by students, I think I have
only come across it one time on my own.  I like to eat them, the taste is like honey but a tiny bit chalky, but most Thai
people just hold them for their smell!  They smell so wonderful, Thai people of all ages just drop them in their
breast pocket, take them out to smell throughout the day.  The smell of course adds to the taste, they are
not toxic but I guess I am the only one I know who likes to eat them...  Look Jan is the name, in English, that would
translate to Sun Fruit.  Very cool fruit!  Rare these days, but these can be found pretty much anywhere in Thailand.

Not so exotic, but a very sweet snack, these are Jujubes, or Chinese Dates as I have also
seen them to be called.  Mostly sweet, slightly tart, I like to put them in boiling water, and then use the water
(and the fruits themselves of course) to make oatmeal in the morning.

Durian is not obsessed over here like it is in Malaysia or Singapore, but we definitely have enough
to satisfy those who are insane for this alien-like delicacy.  This was a particularly soft, tangy flavor, the
name of this species in Thai is "Chanee" which means Gibbon, as in the monkey :)

At my good friend Mark's house, I am usually treated to a Southern-Thai style feast, which often includes
Petai or this similar bean-looking fruit here.  The flavor is very difficult to describe, might be weird to some
but the power in such a little package is undeniable, strong smelling, a bit acidic, a bit chalky
 and yet awesomely crunchy, this bean is eaten in the same bite as any spicy curry or fried vegetable
dish, or just eaten plain!

This is a variation of Pomelo that I found in Chaiyaphum province.  The instant I saw it I whirled
my bike around, never having seen anything quite this color before.  40 baht sounded steep at the
time, but on second-thought, I purchased it, thinking that I may never see Pomelo like this again.
It tasted just like the normal variety, which is something like a cross between a Grapefruit
and a sweet Orange, and a fun thing to do with Pomelo is to try and separate all those little juice-packets
individually and pop them in or into your mouth.

An absurdly delicious and special fruit, the Wood Apple is extremely hard to find in Thailand.  I learned about this
from a trip to Sri Lanka, they are obsessed with this fruit, making it into candies, shakes and smoothies even, as
well as eating it normally.  Similar to a tamarind, a hilarious story told to us also involved Elephants, supposedly
the fruit will be eaten whole, and those coming behind the elephant can find the unbroken shell on the ground,
with all the fruit inside having been digested, leaving a surprisingly light and totally empty (but uncracked!)
Wood Apple in the pile of the elephant's stuff...
You can tell when its ripe by the VERY interesting smell it gives off, and all 3 times I have
found this in Thailand are days to celebrate for sure!  Amazing fruit right here...

Has to be the largest Starfruit I have yet to see, this was from a large, but very local market, outside
of Bangkok, near the Bang Sue Train Station.

In this one photo you can see 2 more varieties of Banana.  The ones on the bottom left are actually a golden color inside,
the ones on the bottom right are the more common "Kluay Kai," also called Egg Banana or Finger Banana in Africa... but
those could very well be different but similar species themselves.  Bananas may just be the BEST fruit, if that can
be something even possible to name, but their immense diversity, as well as simplicity, high nutrient value, and gentle
appearance (I mean it :)  some new fruits may look menacing, but who is scared of a banana?) make it hard to beat!

Possibly taking the #2 spot after Bananas, I can probably name 12 or even 15 different species of mango I have
come across in my time here so far.  I think this may be the "Kaew" (Glass) variety, but it is a bit hard to tell without
holding it in my hands and/or seeing the color of the flesh inside.

I will be honest in admitting that I have no idea what this was.  But I loved it.  The taste literally blew my mind, my tongue was half-scorched from the power of its sourness, the middle aged-lady at the market offered it to me to sample,
and when she saw my wide-eyed yet smiling face, she showed me how to eat it with salt and chili pepper.
If you know the Taling Ping in Thailand, it was very similar, or maybe the Indian Gooseberry (in Thai "Makam Bom").
Eye-watering, stomach-cringing, full-body-experience sourness.  Incredible what we can
experience through just the nose and taste-buds.

I have actually written a post before about my own recipe for using the Santol fruit in a salad, but
this time I found a tree on my own, cycling in the province of Lampang, Northern Thailand, and so
this is also a picture of jungle fruit.  I love this fruit, a perfect example of one of many that I had
no idea existed before coming to Thailand, but would now ache and tremble at the thought
of never being able to have them again...

I found this on a dirt road a few days ago, I asked some people nearby and they immediately said, "Noooot
for eating, no no!" so... So I...  threw it away.  But the color of the fruit looked so inviting!  I don't know what
it is, but I like the picture anyways, and there are plenty of UN-edible fruits besides all the
new ones I have seen here...

Almost done, I think this is a baby Passion Fruit.  Found it growing in a field, I know that passion fruit is a vine, and pictures similar to this are on the internet when I search... anyways, Passion fruit comes in 2 varieties here, and this would be the
larger yellow one whenever it decides to grow up.

"Look Taw" in Thai, "Maak Kai" in Lao, and "Tan Guo" in Chinese (are you impressed? I love fruit, what can I
say... the word 'fruit' or names of fruit are often the first, or only, words that I learn in any language while traveling)
I also know the name in English too, ha, its called Egg Fruit, and this fruit literally tastes like Egg Yolk soaked in syrup.  Super rich, a gently sweet smell, this fruit was actually being put into a shake!  The texture is actually somehow flaky, and if you can imagine an extremely sweet fruit that is somehow also very dry, then you are close to imagining egg fruit...