Stoner Pistachios

Having claimed on Twitter that every fruit in Asia tastes like lychees, I have to retract/explain.

There does seem to be a lot of lychee-ish-ness happening, which is particularly strange since lychee isn't much of a flavour. It's kind of a watery coolness that is sweet but gentle, nice with custard, but hardly a shock to the senses. But, in the continent that produced kimchee, curry, fugu, and satay, I wasn't expecting subtle.

So I was disappointed when the first 3 fruits I was handed were 2 lychee-ish fruits and a green mandarin. Rambutan is exciting to look, a red ball with yellow strands like a small soft sea egg, and quite fun to open. The taste is nice, and I think might work at home, but it is very lychee like.

Longan is similar to lychee too but quite annoying to get into. Gael enjoys the longan and water drinks available in various places. My experience with a similar tamarind drink was more nuanced. It's a salty sour taste which was hard going. It looked like a sunset but was more difficult to appreciate. I was still tempted to acquire the taste though.

Much more yum though was mangosteen. Completely unlike a mango, mangosteen has a hard and resolutely red case with translucent white flesh (like a lychee :) within. The locals warn that the red will stain FOREVER, and some hotels have banned mangosteen for that reason. I didn't test it but after the first mangosteen I didn't care. It's like a tangy mandarin with a slight buttery flavour. They're very tasty and sweet, well worth the effort. Just, carefully, tear the shell off and eat the white flesh with gusto.

Dragonfruit manages to out lychee lychees while being obviously the most exciting fruit. It's covered in purple-red scales like a dragons egg, and seems about the right size. Cut it open like a small watermelon and you'll find flesh the most vivid purple you've ever seen. The colour is stunning, we literally stopped our meal to discuss the colour. The taste is also stunning: it doesn't have any at all. Seriously it's a visual spectacle with no substance. Watermelon is a taste explosion in comparison. However if you want to add a fantastic colour to something without changing the flavour, dragonfruit is your best friend.

Also reminding me of watermelon is ... Yellow watermelon. It's just like watermelon but yellow. It's also, in my opinion, slightly nicer so I'd like to see it at home.

We also tried guava slices. Guava turns up occasionally in drinks at home so we knew what to expect. However the thin 10cm and slightly dry slices were excellent. A pear with flavour, spicy and cedar-ish. They are green on one side and white and you just eat everything with a big smile.

Honey dew melon slices look similar but have a slightly crunchy centre like an apple or pear. They taste similar to the guava but not quite as good.

Papaya is a pastel orange eaten like a melon and relatively popular at home so it was a familiar friend to visit in Sabah. As were pineapples, oranges, and apples.

Durian was not. It's an angry pineapple on the outside, and a yellow kidney on the inside. The smell is simultaneously nutty and revolting. Sort of like some sort of pickled walnut but without the tang of vinegar. The taste loiters around like a stoner pistachio: never really nutty nor completely revolting. I like marmite so I understand acquired tastes and durian is definitely one of those.

So I take it back: fruits in Asia more interesting than lychees, and I'd love to see more of them at home.