Mangosteen, Rambutan, and the Stinky King: My Day of Exotic Fruit in Vietnam
I tried 3 new fruits today. I think that’s a record for me in a single day. All 3 look like things from an alien planet. First was a mangosteen. If you look at the photo, it almost looks like a plum. There are street vendors selling them everywhere and some even approach you while you are eating dinner. You don’t eat the skin like a plum. You crack into it like a geode to reveal the white flesh. These are quite tasty. I can easily see myself getting a bag of these soon and snacking on them.
The second was a rambutan fruit. These look insane — like not something you should eat haha. More like a sea urchin than a fruit. But they are eaten in a similar way as the mangosteen. You break them open by hand and reveal the edible fruit. They aren’t as binge snacky as the mangosteen. They are a bit tart– or at least the one I had was.
I bet you could mix them into some interesting dishes like maybe a rambutan ice cream or pie.
And finally I had the controversial durian fruit. The smell of this people revolts some people to the point that when I was in Bangkok I’d see signs in the subway “No Durian”. Similar to a no smoking sign. Big durian has been lying for years about the effects of second hand durian off gassing. But seriously it is pungent and I guess it’s a love it or hate it thing. I knew I had to try it eventually and it’s everywhere here. When you are walking within 10 feet of it you can smell. The smell lingers in the air sort of like how marijuana does….or burnt popcorn. Anyways to me it smells kinda like a really pungent dank pineapple. I got a nice little package cut up for me and I still had no idea how to eat it.
It’s everywhere here—vendors package it up in styrofoam trays with plastic wrap on top. But if you’ve never eaten it you’ll be just as puzzled as to…….how do I eat, as the other 2 fruits. But it’s ready to eat, you just start eating the exterior flesh and that sits around a hard inner seed that is sort of like an avocado pit. It’s sweet, but not extremely sweet and it’s got a texture somewhere between an avocado and a banana. It’s also creamy and stringy at the same time. And oddly for how strong it smells walking down the street, the taste of it is kinda mild but GOOD. I guess I’m in the camp of people that will one day offend someone when I’m enjoying a nice fresh piece of that stinky pineapple.
PS Also small world scenario, my direct neighbor in the apartment building is from Maine.
