INDIGENOUS THAI FRUITS
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
INDIGENOUS THAI FRUITS
 
 
BANANA or "Kluai"
Bananas are available all year round. The most common varieties grown in Thailand are:
Kluai Hom - Fragrant Banana
Ripe fragrant bananas are a popular all-day snack. It goes well with breakfast cereals and is ideal for making banana fritters, cakes and ice-cream.
Kluai Khai - The Egg Banana
Has a thinner golden-yellow skin when ripe. It is eaten fresh or cooked in a light syrup. It is also popular as dried banana, candy, or cake.
Kluai Nam Wa -
Sticky and sweet when ripe, Kluai Nam Wa is valued for its high nutritional value. It is often used in a dessert known as Kluai Buat Chee in which slices of banana are cooked in coconut milk. It is also a key ingredient of steamed desserts made with glutinous rice, or rice flour, such as in Khao Tom Mut or Khanom Kluai.
Kluai Hak Mook
A cooking banana that is delicious when roasted or grilled.
Banana blossoms known as "Hua Plee" are used fresh as a garnish for the famous Pad Thai noodle dish, used in Thai salads or yam, or eaten raw as a salad vegetable served with chilli dips called nam prik.
DURIAN or "Turian"
Peak season: May to August
Considered to be the 'King of Thai Fruits', Thais prefer a durian that is just ripe. The flesh should be slightly soft to the touch but without being crunchy.
Durian is without a doubt, an acquired taste. For the first taste of durian, Mon Tong or the Golden Pillow Durian with its light creamy texture is the mildest of the durians and is widely available throughout Thailand.
Alternatively some of the other milder options include Durian ice-cream or Khao Nieow Turian - Sticky Rice topped with durian meat cooked in a coconut cream sauce, and Turian Kuan, a preserved durian toffee, or jams.
Kahn Yaow or the Long-Stem Durian with firmer yellow flesh and Chanee or Gibbon Durian with its golden yellow flesh have a richer and more distinctive flavour and is much sought after by true durian connoisseurs, although in the city, it is becoming an increasingly rare commodity.
The best durian is judged by the thickness of the flesh and the size of its seed.
(The smaller the seed relative to the amount of flesh, the better.)
Durian ripens quickly in the hot tropical climate. As the fruit ripens, the flesh takes on a creamy consistency and the intensity of the aroma increases. (Given this lingering and at times overwhelming aroma, durian is banned from hotel rooms, cinemas, aircraft, limousines, coaches and vans.)
The best durian are from the orchards of the Eastern provinces of Thailand namely Rayong, Trat, Prachin Buri, Chanthaburi and Surat and Chumphon in southern Thailand.
LANGSAT

Peak season: July to September
The oval-shaped Langsat is native to Thailand. Peel back the light yellowish-brown skin to expose small, plump segments of translucent flesh. Some contain seeds. Perfectly ripened plump langsat have a delicate refreshing sweet-and-sour taste and
a fragrant aroma. Very young langsat tend to be very sour.
It is grown in Uttaradit Province in Northern Thailand, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Chumphon, Trang and Songkhla in the south.

 
 
LONGKONG
Peak season: July to September
Of the same family as the langsat, the rounder longkong has thicker skin with less sap making it easier to peel. It is more fragrant and noticeably sweeter. With longkong being the connoisseur's choice, it is slightly more expensive.

 
 
THAI MANGO or "Ma-Muang"
Peak season: April to June
All Thai mangoes are sweet, juicy, and fragrant, when ripe. However the "Nam Dawk Mai" and "Ok Long" variety are best known. They are the favourite choices as dessert fruit or as "Mango and Sticky (glutinous) Rice", a popular dessert during the peak of the mango season in the summer.
"Ma-muang Keow Savoey" and "Ma-muang Rat" are also delicious as ripe mango but Thais prefer to enjoy both of these as raw mango served with a dry salt-and-sugar dip seasoned with crushed chilli called prik kab kleua or a savoury chilli dip prepared by blending palm sugar with fish sauce heated to a caramel-like consistency called nam pla wan.
Green Keow Savoey is sweet and has a powdery texture, while Ma-muang Rat is predominantly sour with a hint of sweet.
Raw mangoes add a more delicate sour flavour to dishes and are featured in Thai salads such as Yam Ma-muang and in chilli dips.
Thai mangoes come in many other preserved forms such as delicious mango ice-cream, or pickled mango - Ma-muang Dong, Ma-muang Chae-Im or dried mango, and Ma-muang Kuan.
Mangos are a major fruit crop in Sakhon Nakhon province in Northern Thailand, Yasothon, Si Sa Ket and Chaiyaphum in Northeastern Thailand, Ratchaburi and Chon Buri in Central Thailand, and Prachin Buri in Eastern Thailand.
THAI ORANGE or "Som"
Peak season:
September to February for the tangerine or "Som Keow Wan"
September to November for the Sweet Orange
Fresh Thai tangerines have a highly aromatic thin greenish-yellow peel and are refreshingly sweet when ripe, perfect when served as fresh fruit or as a juice or cocktail mixer. To make the most of its delicate refreshing taste, oranges are served in a very light syrup on crushed ice.
POMELO or "Som O"

Peak season: August to November
Native to Thailand and Southeast Asia, pomelo is the Asian equivalent of grapefruit, but significantly larger in size. The green peel is aromatic.
The sweet and juicy champagne pink flesh of Som O Thong Dee or Brilliant Gold Pomelo and the virtually translucent and crisper flesh of Som O Khao Hom or Fragrant Rice Pomelo are considered to be the best of Thai pomelo.
Because of its light tangy flavour, Som O Khao Hom adds a delicate harmonious flavour to Thai salads or yam.
Pomelo is grown in the orchards of the lower North and Central region, particularly in Nakhon Pathom province, and in the provinces of Surat Thani and Trang in Southern Thailand.