do you know the difference between
the pulasan and the rambutan?

first, it was the rambai and the langsat. now, it's time to look at two other cousins in the fruit family - the pulasan and the rambutan. the name pulasan comes from the malay word 'pulas' meaning to twist. i suppose that is how it got its name. unlike, the rambutan where you need to make a break or cut to get at the flesh, for the pulasan, you twist it to get to the flesh of the fruit - one hand holding the top part and the other hand, the bottom, and you twist it in opposite directions.

the name rambutan also comes from a malay word 'rambut', meaning hair.




the other day, i was at sheng siong supermarket and they had both types of fruit on sale. the rambutans were going at $3.00 for 2 kilos and the pulasans were sold at $5.00 for two kilos. what is the implication? that rambutans are more plentiful whereas pulasans are harder to come by? that pulasans are better and preferred to rambutans?




the flesh of the two looks alike and the taste is not much different. some say the pulasan is generally sweeter. it is not true that the flesh of the pulasan does not stick to the seed. the one i had had bits sticking onto the seed (see below). the 'tood hood' rambutan does not stick to the seed. the difference is that you can eat the seed of the pulasan is edible. according to my friend, it tastes a bit like coconut.

chun see should have followed up the durian quiz with one on rambutan. the red and yellow rambutans are all over the place. to get the picture of the fruit for this blog, i punggol (hurled a stick) at a rambutan tree at the end of kampong chantek road.

the branches of the rambutan trees tend to give way quite easily. i remember, as a boy, i climbed a rambutan tree along chancery lane and found myself dangling a few metres from the ground because the lower branch, on which i had stood, had given way. i cannot remember how i eventually got back to solid ground but i believe i was not badly hurt in this incident.

i have yet to see a full-grown pulasan tree in singapore, much less climb one.

one thousand fingers

at d'kranji farm resort, located at neo tiew lane 2, you can view two bunches of an uncommon species of banana called the 1000 fingers. i read somewhere that the stalk, which is more than a metre long, will continue to grow and add fruit till it touches the ground. (i was told that you can see them at the desaru's fruit farm in johor.)

the bananas, which are around 5cm long, are seedless, sweet and have a pleasant flavour.

i remember receiving an email - i think it was from nah - extolling the benefits of eating bananas.

it seems bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose.

a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. it is no wonder that it is the number fruit with the world's leading athletes.

this unique tropical fruit is extremely rich in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure.

bananas are best eaten when they are very ripe (mature). you should not keep bananas in the refrigerator because they lose their flavour very quickly.

when we were young and when we constipated, my mother would buy bananas for us to eat. there seems to be some truth in this home remedy because the high fibre in the banana helps in bowel movement.

eating bananas make you as happy (or as cheeky) as a monkey. some chemical found in the banana puts you in a good mood.

are you able to tell them apart

- the rambai and the langsat?

tree at dairy farm nature park

today, i came across a tree, at the edge of the new dairy farm nature park car-park, the one nearer to petir road. it was laden with young fruit. at first, i thought it could be a langsat tree. then, i decided it could also be a rambai tree.

if you explore the lanes of lim chu kang, you will come across both the langsat and the rambai trees. the rambai trees - the fruit being inferior to the langsat - can be found growing on both sides of lane 5a. the langsat trees are more numerous and they can be found mainly along lanes 3 and 6.

rambai

langsat

it will take an experienced horticulturist to differentiate between the two cousins. to a layman, a langsat and a rambai look no different from each other, the tree as well as the produce. i had thought that they belonged to the same meliaceae family. but i have been mistaken; the rambai belongs to the euphorbiaceae family.

langsat

rambai

langsat

rambai

the rambai tree is normally bigger than the langsat tree. although it produces more fruit, it is not as desirable because of its sour taste. the unripe fruit is green and the ripe fruit is yellowish green. unlike the langsat, which always has five segments, the rambai fruit usually has between one and three segments; three being the majority. of course, there are the rare rambai fruit which has five segments.

lest you are thinking of enjoying the langsat fruit at lanes of lim chu kang, remember they are not as big or as sweet and tasty as the commerically produced ones which are selling at about $2.50/kilo.

there are other similar fruits in this family, like the duku and the longkong (the thai version of the langsat). the duku is bigger, the size of a golf-ball, and its skin is much thicker. it is golden brown in colour. the longkong is usually sold in bunches, with the stem intact.

to make a comparison between (duku) langsat and longkong, i bought a stem from sheng siong supermarket. the langsat from thailand is priced higher than the malaysian's. verdict: i still prefer the langsat from malaysia. the langsat is normally sweeter and tastier than the longkong.

what fruit is this?

flower and fruit of the monkey apple

resembling a small soursop, this fruit is native to south america. it is grown as a roadside tree along certain 'lanes' in lim chu kang. even the flower of the fruit and the seeds resemble those of the soursop.

unlike the soursop, however, the fruit changes from green, before it matures, to yellow when it is ripe.

if you want to know more about this fruit, check out this website.

this is called the monkey apple or pond apple. in some places, it is called the alligator apple.

a recent study suggests that its alcoholic seed extract contains anticancer compounds that could be used pharmaceutically.

on a related topic, someone sent me this about the cure for cancer.

as i have already given you the name of the first fruit, now it is for you to guess the name of the second fruit. what is this fruit (in the picture directly above)? clue (especially helpful to icemoon): it is not a nutmeg. may be another picture may help.

enjoying good malaysian durians



















whenever i want to eat good durians, ...... no, i do not sneak into the parks, nature reserves and cemeteries at night to hunt for durians. in fact, i have not tasted a durian picked on my own. also, i do not go to sims avenue to buy them because i do not know the vendors well enough.

i go to this malaysian durian seller who sets up his stall at the woodgrove, just in front of the 7-eleven store, along woodlands avenue 1. there is always a queue of regulars at his stall. mr so is reliable and trustworthy and he sells good durians only. you do not see him at the beginning of the season because the first batch of durians are usually mediocre in terms of quality. he also disappears at the tail end of the season for the same reason.

durians which are good but not outstanding are sold by the fruit. usually, it is $20 for 3 big durians or $10 for 3 small durians. premium durians like mountain cat king (mao shan wang) and golden phoenix (kim hong) are sold by weight.

he also gave us some pointers on how to tell if a durian is a genuine mao shan wang. one is the colour of the husk; it has a distinctive colour (see picture on left). two is the small flat area at the base of the fruit and three, the colour of the flesh of the durian.

the other day, i got two big mao shan wang for $59, at $13/kg. today, my former colleague bought one mao shan wang and three golden phoenix durians for $67, at $12/kg. the golden phoenix durians are much smaller in size.

i find the taste of the creamy mao shan wang better than d101, d24, red prawn and xo. my friend thai soon, a fruit lover, eats only mao shan wang these days.

red bananas

most banana trees here produce the yellow variety, so when i saw these red bananas on a tree near the malaysian railway track at woodlands road, i had to snap a picture of them.

red bananas are also known as jamaican bananas. the peel is actually more reddish purple than red. they are smaller in size compared to the cavendish bananas but they taste better, with a slight raspberry flavour. like the traditional bananas, they are best eaten soft. red bananas contain more beta carotene and vitamin c than regular bananas.

a deep purple colour indicates that the banana is ripe. if the colour of the peel is lighter, the banana is not ripe. as with the common yellow bananas, red bananas will ripen in a couple of days at room temperature. red bananas, that have not fully ripened, should be stored at room temperature and not refrigerated.

although they are not as common as the cavendish bananas, you can still get them from some fruit stalls and supermarkets. today, i bought a comb, consisting of ten red bananas, for $2.20 from a fruit stall in yishun avenue 5. the red bananas came from malaysia. the fruit-seller told me that the chinese offered this fruit to the gods.