Enjoying crunchy ambarellas
Published on: Sunday, April 10, 2022
By: Eskay Ong
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For example, durian pulp, mango, passion fruit, carandas plum, wild passiflora, among others, must always be soft to taste good and be edible. In fact, such a feature adds value to the fruit without which buyers would definitely reject them if they are meant to be eaten directly into the mouth.
Every Sabahan knows that barely ripe durians are little appreciated as they do not have that kind of creamy and gooey feel in the mouth. Similarly, passion fruit needs to be very well ripened to release the optimum sugar content and fragrance.
Most important of all, its slippery feel in the mouth that is well-stirred by the tongue and mixed with a copious amount of saliva makes the slurping-in even more enjoyable. A passion fruit that cannot be slurped in is, at best, only good in namesake and nothing else.
The fruit-to-mouth process is a peculiar, direct route without the fruit being hijacked to be fermented or pickled or converted into a jam, tart or pudding. This means one can roll around under some fruiting plants in the garden or in an orchard while wolfing down plant-fresh fruits.
The original eating value of such fruits changes if they are passed through another process which results in big alterations in the degree of mastication needed, and the difference in the taste and aroma of the end result.
In many downstream processing activities in horticultural fruit cultivation, production and marketing, the entire value chain is in megabucks. In some overseas countries, a single variety of fruit of high horticultural value can bring benefit to an entire region covering millions of people.
Experienced consultants and planners work out the needs of the entire chain to ensure that large upstream industries are created to feed into the needs of the cultivation, the products of which are then fed into an ever hungry downstream industry.
A large fruit cluster tells of an impending joyous harvest festival.
A bag of kedondongs at a fair price of RM10-RM12. Go grab it.
These three sectors work in tandem and are well-coordinated to ensure there are no hiccups, with the result that their citizens are getting wealthy and healthy, leaving many other countries struggling and playing catch-up.
This is why everywhere throughout the world, there are such simple edibles as desiccated fruit peels and pulps, dry whole fruits and fruit slices, among others. Surprisingly, a lot of these are derived from the backyards of rural homesteads where government or private agencies have long term arrangements to collect the produce for processing.
These are the issues that have been brought up multiple times in this column under various forms or guises with the hope that some departments or agencies, or even ministers, are amenable to using these as tools to help uplift the existing miserable income levels of the B40s.
Just like little potties of ornamental plants, these are the small things that benefit first the small people. The bombastic sounding multi-billion ringgit projects, while most welcome, may come later.
Kedondong is the local jargon
While yellow plum and golden apple are common names of ambarellas, they are unlikely to ring a bell because the local jargon for the fruit is kedondong. Everyone, from the small kids in the kampung to the sophisticated city folks, knows what the name represents.
The common names of yellow plum and golden apple arise due to the change of fruit colour especially those that have fallen to the ground. Any gardening enthusiast who has a shrub or two of the fruit is certain to notice a few green fruits on the ground once in a while.
Such green fruits drop naturally and they slowly change colour from green to golden yellow colour within a few days. Normally, fully ripened yellow fruits are a little less crunchy compared to the mature green ones but they are nevertheless very much desired too.
Belonging to the family Anacardiaceae, kedondongs have a native distribution ranging from Indochina right down to Polynesia. Well grown shrubs may grow into a small tree ranging from six to nine metres in height and a spread of three to five metres.
The crown is rather airy and open with loosely distributed branches and twigs that are pendulous in nature. Numerous pinnate leaflets are spread out all over the shrub, all hanging in a drooping manner.
Known botanically as Spondias dulcis syn. Spondias cyatherea, kedongdongs are small evergreen tropical trees with a small degree of wintering throughout the year.
As perennial shrubs, or some would say, small trees, it is indeed a very bountiful act just to cultivate one or two of the fruitful shrub. Fruiting is non-seasonal, and as such, they tend to fruit throughout the year. In most instances, fresh flower flushes are on the scene even before the previous crop is completely harvested, eaten or sold.
The flowers are small, whitish and not very conspicuous, and they are all borne on terminal panicles each of which carry several stalks that bear the flowers and fruits. The success rate of fruit formation is extremely high, with most panicles bearing 30-38 or more fruits. That is why kedondong shrubs are said to be not only rewarding but also very fruitful, bountiful and very profitable.
Plenty of young tender buds shows the harvest is going to be profitable.
A large flower panicle can tell of the good days ahead.
That is also why the little shrubs are able to attract so many enthusiasts who would not mind spending hours loafing around such shrubs in the hope of taking a bite or two of the fresh fruits.
The bountiful nature is also one of the best routes for the B40s to upgrade to M40s, considering that 400-500 of the small trees may be cultivated per hectare in the kampung, which is likely to yield 50-100kg per shrub, depending on age.
Convert that into market price and the picture becomes clear as to why horticulture can be big business, in particular the cultivation of fruits to feed salivating mouths and fill empty stomachs.
This includes the cultivation of small-sized fruits such as kedondongs, and maximising on their potential to yield good income for the family and community. To put it in business perspective, this would mean that the enterprising gardener’s cash machine would be ringing non-stop, while he would be waltzing and guffawing all the way to the bank.
Benefits of growing kedondongs
In the countries where kedondongs are found, native peoples have created different ways of benefiting from the largesse of nature. However, most of them in one way or another, end up in the stomach, except for the woody sections such as trunks, branches and mature roots. These are rejects that are always put to good use such as for firewood to supply kitchen stoves or outdoor barbeque pits.
Very often, the longer and straighter pieces are used to build makeshift chicken coops or structures to fence off goats or sheep to prevent the animals from wandering aimlessly and chewing up everything green.
Another use for the straight pieces of branches or trunks is in the setting of trellis systems to cultivate fruiting climbers such as bitter gourd or passion fruit. All these are very interesting options that can be had on landed properties especially kampung lands.
As an item of food, the scope is so broad and the number of ways to serve the fruits of kedondong is nearly limitless. The only limit to the creativity of the chef, or for that matter, anyone who is handling the kuali and the ladle, is in the state of his mind.
An exhausted, worn-out or empty mind needs to have his entire system well-rested before he can continue to create edibles such as kedondong with sambal belacan, or pickled kedondong in plum vinegar with honey, or sliced kedondong crackers baked with a coating of sweet potato powder with clear cane sugar.
These are only a few creations out of the thousands that are available at gerai-gerais run by octogenarian nenek-neneks and datuk-datuks.
Fruits of kedondong contain a very high level of vitamin C and other antioxidants. These are perfect for the health-conscious as they, among others, help to keep skins in a supple, tender, soft and smooth condition.
Ripe fruits, especially those that have turned yellow or are showing signs of softening, make very good jams and these are perfect as spreads over white bread.
In addition to that, kedondongs can also be turned into jellies, tarts, puddings and nectar, and by controlling the amount of added sugar, such stuffs can be made to satisfy a wide range of preferences.
Green fruit sliced open to reveal the central pit.
A jar of pickled kedondong.
The hard, spiky pit.
Unripe or green fruits can be cooked in curries, or sliced and eaten fresh with a large dollop of chilli padi mixed into sambal belacan. The crunching sound and teardrops rolling down should confirm that such a concoction is the right stuff to bring out to be enjoyed by all. However, when sliced thinly, kedondongs can be made out to be like salads in the same way fresh cucumber slices are served.
And, of course, the item that should never be missed when talking about kedongdongs is pickles. Anyone who has a shrub of kedondong should know that the fruits are perfect when pickled in a variety of formulas. That is why it is not surprising to see whole jars of the pickles getting emptied in no time.
- The writer can be reached at: [email protected]
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