Delicoius Malaysia Cuisine : Rambutan
In the months of July and August, fruit stalls and door-to-door vendors in many South East Asian cities present an extra colourful picture. The reason is the bunches of a strange looking oval fruit with bright crimson or yellow skin covered with short fleshy hairs—rambutan—is in season, and plentiful. The word comes from the Malay, 'rambut' meaning hair. Inside is a narrow seed covered with semitransparent flesh which is crisp and mainly sweet. A lot depends on the variety, but it is obvious that the best varieties have been chosen for propagation and export.The lychee is a distant relative of the akee. Lychee seed contain parts of hypoglycins like those found in the akee. They, and presumably the seed of near lychee relatives, are toxic and should never be consumed.
All of these fruit vary in quality, depending on cultivar and growing conditions. The quality is reflected by the price range observed at a Thailand market. The cheapest longans, from seedling trees, cab be one twentieth of the price asked for the best recognised cultivars.
To open rambutans and pulasans, partially cut through the skin, or just break open using a strong thumb-nail. Longans and lychees may be opened by tearing the skin at the stem end, squeezing the fruit at the lower end, and popping it into the mouth. "Experienced lychee eaters" bite lightly through the skin of the upper third of the fruit to obtain an opening in the skin and squeeze the fruit out and enjoy!
Labels: Delicious Malaysia Cuisine