Sunday, February 20, 2011

A Vietnam fruit, though Dragon fruit it is not - Milk fruit

People in Malaysia are blessed with the availability of a wide variety of local fruits. Someone at the office once commented that her diet of fruits at lunch is as effective as the best diet pills in the market. Talking about fruits, yesterday, I had the chance of tasting a fruit I have not ever tasted before.

What do you think is this fruit? A round green fruit. Seen anything like it locally? This fruit comes all the way from Vietnam, Saigon to be exact or rather Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).
I have no idea what it's called but this friend said people in Vietnam refer to it as a milk fruit because the juice looks and tastes milky. How it's eaten over there is to sort of roll or squeeze the fruit to make the contents soft and juicy so that it can be sucked out with a straw. I tried that but to no avail as the pulp is too thick for a straw to go through so what I did was to cut the fruit into half, as in the picture, and scoop up the flesh with a spoon. Yum! It's sweet and aromatic but if you dig in deeper, it becomes sappy and you'll find sap on your lips as a result but nothing to worry about. It can be easily wiped off.

Here's how the fruits look like. The fruits are greenish with a tinge of pink at the base the more ripe they become. The skin is smooth and has a shine, almost glossy. It's round (totally) and fits snugly in your grasp. It feels like a mango, only a little softer and a lot smoother and nicer. I know, it's only a fruit.. The leaves are interesting. They are green on the top but brown on the underside. It's a seasonal fruit and they are available December onwards. It's in abundance right now. That's a Malaysian fifty sen coin for comparison.
Btw, any Vietnamese resident reading this? Would appreciate your first-hand insight on this delicious fruit.

17 comments:

  1. This fruit looks a bit...hmmm...poisonous. :p Haha LD But maybe it is tasty? I have never seen one before.

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  2. very interesting fruit indeed which i've never seen before too.. glossy outlook, and it looks a bit like lime to me inside except it has bigger and black seeds..

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  3. Eh what happened to my comment? Lost? Was saying learned something today about the colors of the leaves on the upper side is green and beneath is brown. For those who are color blind, Bananaz included would assume leaves are all green in color. That's amazing. tQ

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  4. Lina, it sounds delicious, doesn't it?

    Tekkaus, I suppose the only thing poisonous/hazardous about it is when it's being thrown at someone. LOL! Trust me, it's edible, and yummy!

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  5. SK, very interesting fruit indeed. The seeds are like those of the custard apple but the flesh is smooth, sweet and aromatic.

    Bananaz, oops! Glad you got back. Yes, interesting leaves whose shape is like those of mangosteen leaves only thing is, they are two-toned. Bananaz color-blind?

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  6. Anonymous2:19 AM

    This is one of the favorite fruits in VN. There's no English name for it but it's call Vu Sua, literal translation is milky breast but lets just call it milky fruit,hahah

    Gary Devin on FB

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    Replies
    1. Also means ' Mothers milk ' in VN. Grows very well in Central VN, also very good for shade, downside is the all year round drop off of leaves. I hear my neighbours sweeping them up every morning at 5am.

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  7. Thanks, Gary, for the information on this nice milk fruit.

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  8. Anonymous8:22 PM

    Hello,

    It happens to be my favorite fruit, I've always known it as star apple. Would you know if it's still in abundance in April? I'll be in Vietnam in a few days and I'm excited to get my hands on my "star apple".
    Here's more info about this fruit:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysophyllum_cainito

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  9. Hello Anonymous, I was told the fruit is available all year round now though they may be smaller in size at this time, so you might just get to taste your "star apple" on your upcoming visit afterall. Enjoy your trip to Vietnam and thanks for stopping by. Thanks too for the link. That dark purple fruit looks seriously yummy! Have yet to taste that species though. Do they taste better than the green ones, would you know?

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  10. Anonymous10:15 PM

    I live in Trinidad and we have this fruit here and we call it Khimit it also comes in a purple colour.

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  11. Hello Anonymous, yes, this fruit comes in purple too. So, it is called khimit in Trinidad? Thanks for the info and thanks too for stopping by.

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  12. Anonymous9:22 AM

    that is a star apple delicious you can buy seeds for this plant on ebay

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  13. Anonymous5:18 AM

    Chrysophyllum cainito

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  14. so this is the so called star fruit...we in sabah called it apple philippine...i have both variety planted the green type and purple...

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  15. This Milk Fruits are very common and abundant in Thailand. Nobody is really interested to eat it probably because they have other more interesting fruits. Thailand is truly the land of good fruits and good food.

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