one of my family's most favourite fruits is lanzones, or Lansium domesticum, from the family Meliaceae. this tropical fruit is thought to have originated from malaysian peninsula, and is found in great abundance in the southern provinces of the philippines, including sulu and camiguin; it is also found in the laguna province of luzon. camiguin is known for having particularly sweet and desirable fruit, and has a festival in the fruit's honour in early october. however, now is the (short) season for laguna's bounty.
this ovoid-to-round fruit is about the size of the a large concord grape, the skin is yellowy beige, which covers the opaque, segmented flesh that is mostly seedless; there can be, however, one large seed, bitter with tannins, hidden in one of the segments. the flesh itself is sweet and juicy, with a texture similar to lychees and a flavour similar, but without the florally finish. the fruit grow in grape-like bunches off of tall and lanky trees, which give off a sticky resin when the fruit is picked; the resin is thought to protect the stomach from alcohol, but is bitter and difficult to actually imbibe. the bark of the tree contains anti-inflammatory properties and thought to be an anti-spasmodic--traditional medicines made from it are used against everything from dysentery to scorpion bites. which, i don't know, could be handy where you live.
12 comments:
8/13/2009 02:07:00 AM
buah duku!
i love it almost as much as mangosteen.
8/13/2009 02:29:00 AM
buah duku? cool name! the ones from bangkok are sooooo good.
8/19/2009 11:22:00 PM
hi santos!I just arrived at your blog!! very nice of you to parade all of asia's delicacies!!
i never know that buah duku is available in phillipines! buah duku is in season rite now in Malaysia
8/19/2009 11:36:00 PM
clavriene, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. you are so lucky to have buah duku in abundance right now. i miss malaysia, i want to visit again!
8/23/2009 08:52:00 AM
yummmy wish i could have one!!! Love it...
8/23/2009 07:04:00 PM
oh strange! I never knew it had an English name...but in Singapore we seem call it buah luku
9/01/2009 12:31:00 PM
in malaysia, the thick-skinned ones are duku n thin-skinned ones are langsat.love them.
10/01/2009 11:08:00 AM
I've never heard of this fruit! Thanx for sharing LANZONES!
esta later...
10/17/2009 04:38:00 AM
uhm. How do I get some of this goodness in LA? I know where to get mangosteens but.. holy cow that looks good. And will you ever go back to 3rd/Fairfax?
10/17/2009 08:31:00 PM
sinosoul, nice to see you here! unfortunately monsoon season is keeping me very busy in the tropics. i'd LOVE to go to la soon....
11/17/2009 08:56:00 AM
Here in Hawaii that's longon, if I'm not mistaken, but a different color.
Interesting blog you have here.
11/17/2009 10:40:00 AM
hi claudia! thanks for stopping by. longan are similar, but different in that there is a central seed and it isn't segmented. also, the longan's flavour is more sweet than the sweet-sour taste of the lanzone.
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