Not my country (I live in Thailand) but I went to Sabah, Eastern Malaysia last year (year’s end period) and man, they have some great and exotic fruit selection!
Here is my impression (images are mine)…
Pink Durian
This is my whole reason for going there in the first place. I research about Tenon’s (a small town near Kota Kinabalu) famous pink durian for three years and finally decide to take a trip there to try them out for real.
They.. look a lot more impressive than they taste. They aren’t very fleshy, small and interestingly nearly unsweetened. Which is interesting but given the price I expect a lot more (cost me 70 MR for one whole fruit). There is only one of the fruit that’s actually sweet (relatively). It wasn’t a bad experience but far too expensive for me to try one out very often.
Also interesting enough, their husk is yellow rather than green like other normal durain.
Copper Red Banana
Sabah peopel seem to have a thing for red, aside from red (and pink) durian, they also have red banana! (and also red pineapple which is sold in the store near by but I didn’t try that out.)
I found this one on the Kinabalu mountain itself (the view of the majestic mountain.. ..next to a pile fruit garbage is.. amazing.. to say the least.)
Unlike the durian, this banana is amazing! It has a strong aromatic power of a Cavendish Banana but a soft, sweet, creamy caramel-colour core and a thin ivory rind of a Golden Banana. Essentially combining two of my most favourite banana together.
yum
It was quite pricey, not as pricey as the durian but the whole thing cost me about 4 MR which a friend who drove me to the Kinabalu told me that it was a decent price. I can buy at least 4 set of bananas here given the same remoteness of the area.
The Pearl of Andaman
I don’t remember to local name any more some thing about pink and a lady but in my tongue it’s called The Pearl of Andaman (Khaimuk Andaman) and mostly found on southern highland. It’s mostly considered a wild flower on both the Thai Southern Peninsular and Eastern Malaysia. I also found them on the Kinabalu mountain (Kinabalu park to be specific, it’s kind of a conservatory garden rather than a real jungle.)
And also find out the hard way that it’s fruit is edible and very tasty! Basically I saw an ant pick up its fruit and so I cast my dire and pop one in my mouth (and still live to tell the tale!)
It is sweet with a bit of acidity, almost like a cross between a grape and a blueberry. A taste and a smell of a grape and texture of blueberry. Before I finally found the sign that confirmed my hypothesis that the fruit is edible (and mostly eaten by bird) I lost count on how many fruits I ate along the way until I stumble upon the sign. It was so tasty and addictive (I would have die for sure had it be even slightly toxic).
Someone should really sell them in the city.
Tarap
Ah.. the glorious Tarap. This is easily my second most favourite fruit in the entire trip. Tarap is one a few fruit that is truly unique to Eastern Malaysia (or so I have been told.)
When they first open it up, I feel like a scene where they cut open the alien in The Independence Day. The thick leathery green fruit was cut open, and a white entail was pull up…
It’s like the vegan version of seppoku!
It might not look very impressive at first but the moment I put one in my mouth - it’s so sweet and fleshy! Also.. a little slimy and smell like a very ripe jack fruit.
People there told me that they often eat Tarap after durian as the former contain a cool dominant element while the latter is hot. People in Eastern Malaysia comprise a lot more of Catholic Chinese than Muslim Malay and their influences are well display in their eating habit.
Anyway, as a scientific materialist, I ate one anyway because it’s sooo good (and in fact, if heat mean caloric intake you probably double it by eating one with durian - but hey, double the calorie, double the taste!)
Orange Durian
My favourite fruit by far for Sabah, Eastern Malaysia
Remember the pink durian I mention at the top of this list? It was small, expensive, and not very sweet (but otherwise still smell and taste like durian). Well, tell you what? this orange durian is even smaller, less sweet, much less flesh and just as expensive.
The only different is this thing rock while the other isn’t!
The Orange Durian is a wild small durian, just about the size of my palm. I tried one out of curiosity (well since I already spend massively on durian anyway) and the flavour absolutely beyond my expectation.
This durian is not sweet at all it was rich, savoury, creamy, and almost eggy and custardy in flavour and texture - the closet thing I can think of is avocado with a bit of buttery, egg yoke-y undertone.
it sure looks buttery
But the most impressive part is the smell! If you are the kind of person who hate the smell of a durian you are going to love this thing.
It does’t smell like durian at all, in fact it doesn’t even smell like tropical fruit. The first layer of aroma that hit me is almost like a wild flower or light perfume. The as I put it in my mouth it start to change into that of a roast nut, may be like a peanut or almond.
Imagine that you are eating a very intense flavour avocado that has one of the most complex smell and taste of a toasted nut and flower!!
Or may be like a peanut butter with a bit of perfume on top if you don’t feel like hearing a romantic expression….
That’s my list of exotic fruit in Southeast Asia. Actually Thailand also has our fair share of strange fruit as well but that’s the story for another day.
*I have been inquired about the Pearl of Andaman fruit so I do a bit of research and find out that it’s called Rose Grape in English, what fitting name
For those of you who still interested in the fruit, here is the wiki article and more of my picture showing its flowers and overview
Medinilla magnifica - Wikipedia
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