Pineapple Ananas comosus    sap pa rot   สับปะรด This egg shaped fruit, covered with scales is topped by a type of crown composed of almond green short and hard leaves. Several pineapple types exist. In Thailand you can find  pineapple of different sizes  the smallest one being the Phuket one, yellow and very sweet. Pineapple is often used to cook sweet and sour dishes and harmonizes very well with chicken or shrimp salades. It contains a lot of glucids but also provitamins A, and B1 et C vitamins.

Banana Musa spp    klouéy   กล้วย More than 20 types of various sizes and flavours bananas are cultivated in Thailand. Most varieties  in Thailand are yellow colours. Very often eaten as it is, this fruit can also be boiled, or fried. It is delicious when eaten with sticky rice or normal boiled or steamed rice. You will find everywhere banana fritters. It is excellent but very caloric. It is a  source of vitamin B and potassium.

Coromandel gooseberry Averrhoa carambola Oxalidacées family   ma feuang   มะเฟือง It grows on a tropical tree with persistent leaves, which can reach 5 meters high. Carambola or coromandel gooseberry (also called chinese gooseberry) grows in bunches on the branches and on the trunk. This berry is fleshy and long-shaped with a  yellow reddish ribbed skin when coming to maturity. The fruit measures 5 to 8 cms long with 5 salient ribs which make slices look like stars when you cut the fruit. Its translucid flesh is juicy, crispy and little sringy and acidulous like rhubarb. When really ripe it is mainly used for food decoration. It contains a lot of vitamin C.

Durian Durio zibethinus    tou rian   ทุเรียน Big fruit (can reach 4 Kg), which has a very thick skin forming a carapace bristling with thorns. When ripe it has a very strong smell, slightly close to gas smell. It smell so much that it is forbidden to bring it in most hotels! When cutting the fruit you will find partitions in which there is a type of big seed surrounded by the fruit flesh. Flesh is sweet and creamy, and taste is quite nice if you forget about the smell. You can eat Durian on its own or as a sweet with sticky rice and coconut milk. Very few europeans like this fruit, as they hate its smell, but thais like it very much. The seeds when roasted or grilled are used as nuts are.

Guava Psidium spp.    fa rang   ฝรั่ง There are several types of guava producing fruits of various forms, sizes, colours and tastes. Guava flesh is very tasty and slightly acidulous, which makes it really refreshing. Look for a smooth, not bruised, not too hard not too soft fruit. Guava can be eaten as it is or cooked. It is used for salted or sweet dishes. It contains a lot of vitamin C and potassium.

Jujube Ziziphus jujuba Rhamnacées family pout sa   พุทรา The Jujube tree comes from Northern China. It was then brought to western asia 2500 or 3000 years before J.C.then into Occident in mediterranean region. Depending upon varieties, jujube has the size of an olive or a date ; it is round or oblong. It can be used as the date is. Fresh the jujube is an excellent source of vitamin C. When dry, it gives a lot of energy. It is a big source of potassium.

Jackfruit Artocarpus heterophyllus    ka noun   ขนุน Huge egg shaped fruit, directly growing on the tree trunk. It may be 40 cm long and be 15 cms across. Its green gnarled skin becomes yellow when getting ripe. When cutting the fruit you find white sticky partitions in which the flesh is to be found around a big seed. Only the flesh can be eaten as it is or cooked. You can put it in fruit salads or ice creams.

Longan Dimocarpus longan    lam yaï   ลำไย This fruit probably comes from India and you will find it evrywhere in Thailand and Vietnam. It is rather close to litchi and ramboutan. It grows in bunches of approximately 30 fruits (3 cms across). Its smooth husk is orange colour turning to brown and getting hard when coming to maturity. The fruit stone cannot be eaten. The translucid white flesh is divided in quarters. It is a seet juicy fruit which is an excellent source of  vitamin C and potassium.

Langsat Lansium domesticum    lang sat   ลางสาด This fruit grows on a straight 10to 15 meters high tree, with a reddish brown or yellowish brown bark. The fruit in bunches of 2 to 30, is ovoid or nearly round and measures 2,5 to 5 centimeters across. Its colour is pale greyish yellow, velvet-like. When opening the fruit you find 5 or 6 quarters of juicy white, translucid tasty fleshs with a slightly acidulous taste. Seeds which normally stick to the flesh can normally be found in 1 to 3 fruit quarters. They are green, quite big and very acid. It may happen that fruit flesh has absorbed part of this acidity.

Duku doux Lansium domesticum Corrêa    long kong   ลองกอง It is difficult for an european to make the difference between this fruit and its very close cousin the " langsat" (see above). However thais prefer this fruit and it is also more expensive.

Lamai     la maï   ละไม Still another fruit which is very similar to the 3 previous ones.

Gooseberry Ribes grossularioides    ma yom   มะยม Less known than its cousin the redcurrant, it is a huge translucid berry, slightly villous. It can be white, yellow or sometimes pink depending upon varieties. Very much used during the Middle Age to go with fish dishes, it kept this nickname. It is a very acid berry.

Pomegranate Punica granatum Lythracées family tap tim   ทับทิม It grows on pomegranate, comes from asia and is supposed to have therapeutic virtues. Pomegranate syrup is very appreciated by children but nowadays this syrup is most of the time a various red fruits industrial mixing in which you hardly find any pomegranate. Its name comes from latin granatus  which means "plentiful of seeds".

Santol or false mangosteen Sandoricum indicum Cav kra ton   กระท้อน Green or yellow coloured skin fruit with a granulous, sweet, as white as cotton pulp. It is sweet but acidulous around a lot of stones. It is grown on the banks of  Chao Praya river in the neighbourhood of Bangkok.

Mangosteen Garcinia mangostana    mang kout   มังคุด Mangosteen is a round fruit,4/5 cms across. Its thick and purple skin is topped by a green stem. Inside the fruits irregular quarters can be found. Flesh is white with a big smooth stone in each quarter. It is juicy and slightly acidulous, very refreshing and tasty. It is one of the tastiest and best fruits you can find in Thailand. Take care when removing the skin as it stains. It is very rich in vitamin C, E and beta-caroten. It also contains a lot of glucid : 16 % which puts it in front of cherries and mangoes, but it contains few calories (62 Kcal / 100).

Mango Mangifera indica    ma mouang   มะม่วง Its nickname is « tropical peach ». Mango is round or ovoid or kidney-shaped. Its skin is green, yellow or scarlet. Flesh is sweet and unctuous. Mango is ripe when little soft when you touch it and giving a strong sweet smell. It can be eaten as it is after peeling it or it can be joined to fruit salads, cereals and sherbets. It is delicious when cooked with poultry, duck or pork.You can also make fantastic jams or mango sweet sauce. It is an excellent source of vitamin A and vitamin C. In  Thailand, you can find green (mamouang kio savoy) and yellow mangoes.

Coconut Cocos Nucifera    louk ma praow   ลูกมะพร้าว It is floating and following the marine current that coconut tree spread from Asia till all tropical regions. This fruit is protected by a  green husk covering a second very hard fibrous light brown colour one. Before coming to maturity, this fruit is full of a milky liquid very nice to drink. Coconut milk will become white and hard pulp when coming to maturity which takes 9 to 12  months. Pulp, eaten fresh and cut into small pieces or grated, is used in several salted or sweet dishes.

Orange Citrus sinensis - agruma family    som   ส้ม Thai orange is surprisingly normally green colour. It is mainly used to make fruit juices  (Naam Som).

Cashewnut Anacardium occidentale    mét ma mouang hin ma pan   เม็ดมะม่วงหิมพานห The great saga of the cashew nut starts around 1558 but the first written documents appear in 1578. Portuguese imported anarcadium tree from its native Brazil into India, Africa and Asia; During 400 years cashew nut was grown for its taste, its high vitamin C content and for its medicinal properties. During millenaries, Amazonian native population was using the fruit and the juice of cashew nuts to treat fever and refresh the breath. Tikana tribe, in the North West of Amazon were considering this fruit juice like the best medication to treat warts On the nearby snap, you can see green fruits where the seed seems over dimensioned versus the “apple” and a mature fruit where the apple took its nice red aspect. The cashew nut as you know it is inside the brown husk which is on the top of the fruit. The juice of this apple can be drunk. It is slightly acidulated and very tasty. When it is not fresh, it evolutes into alcohol. Indians from Goa are transforming it into a white alcohol called “feni” (they also do feni out of coconut). A nice Indian legend attached to this particular fruit while the seed is outside of the fruit itself: God elaborated a fruit and ended up into something perfect when he suddenly realized he had forgotten the stone.. Not willing to destroy his masterpiece, he decided to add the seed on top of the fruit and since this time cashew nut is as it is now. The nut bark is composed of 2 shells, one located outside which is fine and green, the other one inside hard and brown, separated by a structure containing cavities in which there is a caustic phenolic resin called cashew balm, used in the industry. In the nut center there is a type of half moon shaped almond measuring approximately 3 centimeter length and surrounded by a white film. This will become after grilling and salting the cashew nut we usually eat.

Salacca Palmae    ra kam   ระกำ Fruit of a plam tree, with brown skin with thorns hiding its delicious white flesh. This fruit can be eaten fresh but can also be kept for some days.

Sala Palmae    sa la   สละ Fruit with brown skin with thorns, quite similar to Salacca (see above) Cultivated in Eastern Thailand (Chantaburi, Trad). Sweet-acidulous  taste, tastier than Salacca.

Tamarisk Tamarindus indica Fabaceae family   ma kam   มะขาม This tropical fruit is used for cooking because of its acid flavour. It is sold dried or in paste. Put it 5 minutes in lukewarm water before using it. Then press tamarisk to extract the pulp and soaking water, you will use to cook. Tamarisk has a very strong smell and therefore a piece of a nut size is enough. More you soak it, more it smells. Thais usually add tamarisk seeds in their coffee to flavour it and also spare money as we do in Europe with chicory.

Litchi ou lytchee Litchi chinensis sapindacées family   lin dji   ลิ้นจี่ Originating from China and old Annam kingdom which became Vietnam center. Litchi is a majestuous tree which can reach 6 to 12 meters high. Flowers form a small globulous fruit, with a white, translucid flesh which has in its middle a big black stone sticking to the flesh. The fine and gnarled  red colour husk is easy to take off with your fingers. They generally come to maturity at the end of August.

Lime or green lemon Citrus aurantifolia    ma naow   มะนาว Fruit pf lime tree, usually called  green lemon. This fruit has a very juicy acid and greenish pulp. Lime replaces lemon in most tropical dishes. Its typical acidity enhances the taste of most soups and salads.

Papaya Carica papaya    ma la gor   มะละกอ Long shaped fruit, green colour then orange colour when coming to maturity, it may weight a few kilos. Its orange and juicy flesh is very tasty. The fruit center has a lot of small round black seeds. Papaya is delicious when eaten with a spoon (spread little lime juice on it). You can add it in fruit salads just before serving them. You also can use it to make jam. You will find it all over Thailand, even sold by small travelling salesmen. It is then cut into pieces and kept in ice. It is the main component of a very popular dish, type of spicy papaya salad  "som tam" Papaya is an excellent source of vitamin.

Grapefruit Citrus grandis, citrus maxima famille des agrumes    som ô   ส้มโอ Originating from Indonesia, grapefruits we eat in western  Europe are pomelos (Citrus paradisi), which are much smaller than Thai grapefruit. Grapefruit is also called chadek in French Guyana. Grapefruit can be even  20 cms across and weights normally a few kilos. Fruit is round, either a little flat, either with pear-shaped. Its skin is yellow-green, gnarled and thick. It contains reeddish-purple coloured quarters.

dragon fruit or pink with white flesh Pitaya Hylocereus undatus    kèow mang kon   แก้วมังกร It is the fruit of a epiphytic cactus originating from a rather large zone located in Latin America. The plant is formed by creeping stalks of approximately 6 to 12 m length. Its night  white florishing gives a nice perfume close to vanilla one. The fruit skin is flashy pink covered with scales and it can weight approximately 700g.  Its white flesh is spread with numerous little black seeds. This fruit has to be eaten when very cold. It is  normally eaten with a spoon after being cut in two pieces. For addicts, white flesh pitaya has a smooth and fine flavour very lightly acidulous as a non ripe fruit can be.

Water melon Citrullus Lanatus    tèng mo   แตงโม Cultivated in hot tropical countries, water melon is known and appreciated for its refreshing virtues since a remote period. This egg-shaped fruit may weight several kilos. Its dark green skin covers a juicy flesh which can be white, green, yellow or red, depending upon varieties. Fruit center contains black seeds which cannot be eaten. Very refreshing, water melon is eaten as it is but can also be used to make ice creams or sherbets. It is used in Thailand for fruit carving as its size allows to produce spectacular masterpieces. It is available all over the year.

Anona or Custard apple Annona squamosa    noï na   น้อยหน่า Tropical fruit belonging to corossol family, originating  from tropical america. It exists about 10 varieties. The fruit is approximately 10 cms across. It is covered by a type of husk with rather thick scales. The white creamy and sweet flesh contains several seeds. It can be eaten like this but is very fragile and difficult to keep in good condition.

Jambosa or rose apple tree Syzygium aqueum    chom pou   ชมพู่ Rose apple are  clock-shaped green or red fruits (Chom pou Tab Tim = ruby rose apple). They are shiny and glossy and are available quite all over the year. Their crunchy and sweet flesh is normally really appreciated by children.

Ramboutan Nephelium lappaceum    ngo   เงาะ Fruit originating from  Malaysia, it name comes from Malay language where "rambout" means "beard". Its green skin, turning to red when coming to maturity is covered with hair making it look like a small sea urchin. It is quite thin and the flesh is juicy, whitish and translucid, around a big stone. Ramboutan has a sweet, smooth and tasty flavour. It can be used as litchi is. It is full of vitamin C. A variety often grows in the schools yards. Therefore its thai name is : ngo rong rian – school ramboutant.

Sapotille Manilkara zapota    la mout   ละมุด Comes from sapodilla tree, tropical tree with persistent leaves, which can reach 15 meters high and covered with fruits all over the year. The trunk gives when cutted a white latex called chicle used to make chewing-gums. It belong to Sapotacy family, originating from Central America (Mexico). Sapodilla plum is a fleshy egg shaped berry. Its size is close to egg'one : 5 to 8 cm long et 4 to 6 cm broad for a weight of approximately 100 g. Its brown and rough husk is approximately 2 mm thick and can be easily peeled. It flesh is slightly granulous as the pear one, with ovoid seeds, flat in the middle. Colour goes from reddish yellow to dark brown. It is juicy, sweet and very tasty. Its flavour may be compared to honey or apricot one. It can be eaten as it is or in fruit salads. It has to be eaten when really ripe otherwise its degree of tannin gives it a bad taste. It can be used for james or boiled in water. It is a good source of fibres, cellulose, sugar and vitamins.