Breadfruit is an evergreen tree that’s probably native to New Guinea and the Malay Archipelago. The fruits have a warty light green exterior, while the flesh is cream-colored and starchy. When ripe, the pulp of the breadfruit turns soft. It can be baked, stuffed, mashed, and roasted.
When unripe, the fruit can be used like a potato and it has a similar flavor, which is why it’s often used cooked in Asian curries. Ripe breadfruits have a sweet flavor and they’re often used in desserts or cut into slices and dried in the sun for preservation.
Often dubbed the king of fruit, durian is an unusual tropical fruit that grows throughout Southeast Asia. A large spiky outer shell reveals a creamy, almost custard-like flesh, which, besides boasting a mildly sweet flavor, is notorious for being incredibly rank-smelling.
Highly nutritious and healthy, durian fruit goes well in both savory and sweet dishes, and it is used to prepare specialties such as durian cakes and puffs, durian ice cream or shaved ice, durian fritters, tempoyak (fermented durian), and lempok durian (a sweet candy with durian).
VARIATIONS OF Durian
Breadnut is an evergreen tree with very large leaves that’s probably native to Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The fruits are spherical in shape and covered in many short spines. The pulp is firm when unripe, but it turns soft with ripeness and it contains seeds that are similar to chestnuts.
When unripe, the fruit is sliced, boiled, and enjoyed in curries, stews, and soups. However, breadnuts are usually grown for their edible seeds, which are boiled, roasted, or steamed.
Dragon fruit from Bình Thuận is well known for its high yield and exceptional quality. The fruit was imported in the 1980s, and it was initially used in various ceremonies. Large-scale cultivation began when it was detected that the fruit thrived in the region.
Nowadays, this dragon fruit is grown for domestic and foreign markets. Most dragon fruit that is cultivated in this region has red skin and white flesh. It is filled with tiny black seeds. The flesh inside the dragon fruit is soft but firm. It has a sweet and subtly tart flavor.
Water apple is a medium-sized evergreen tree that grows wild from India to Malaysia and Indonesia, and it’s cultivated throughout tropical parts of Asia, as well as in Africa and tropical America, but rarely. The fruits are wide and have a thin and waxy skin.
The flesh is white, crisp or spongy, with a mild aroma. The flavor is sweet in most varieties. The sweeter fruit varieties are usually enjoyed fresh or used in fruit salads. In tropical Asia, the young leaves are often used to wrap food before it’s cooked or steamed.
Pulasan is an evergreen tree with a short trunk that’s native to western Malaysia and Singapore. The tree produced fruits that are ovoid, dark red to red or rarely yellow in color, with a thick leathery exterior that’s covered in short and soft spines.
The pulp is sweet and juicy with a single seed. The fruits are usually eaten fresh or used for preparing fruit jam. They‘re a great source of calcium, vitamin C, and carbohydrates. The seeds are edible when raw and their flavor is reminiscent of almonds.
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