Want to Try a New (to you) Fruit? I Present…THE RAMBUTAN!

My husband recently picked up a box of fruit when shopping at our local Costco.  He (correctly) thought that the fruits looked interesting, and, having been inspired by my desire to keep trying new things (I am working with the assumption that he is so inspired), he picked up a box.  It wasn’t until I actually looked at the label before I knew what they were–he picked up a box of rambutans.  At that point, that clarified nothing.  I had never seen nor heard of this fruit.  We were going to change that!  As I shared some initial information on Facebook, I learned that I am not the only one who had never seen these.  I also learned (not surprisingly) that some of my friends are much more worldly and knowledgeable than I.  I would only be introducing SOME of you to this new (to me) fruit.

I found several sources of information about the rambutan on-line; here is one of the links I found and read. The rambutan is a fruit common to south-east Asia.  The name is derived from the word “rambut” which is “hairy” in Malay.  To eat them, I just made a slice around part of the hairy rind and then “popped” the fruit out of the skin.  That part is kind of fun and entertaining. 

I found the fruit to be tasty; it reminded me of a grape.  Eating the flesh of the fruit without eating the inedible seed was more of a hassle.  At times I would just use a small knife to cut off pieces of the fruit.  Other times I would try taking bites around the seed.  The challenge with this was that sometimes I could not separate the outer layers of the seed from the fleshy part of the fruit.  That outer seed was not what I wanted to eat.  In areas where the separation was cleaner, the fruit was delicious and easy to enjoy.  When I tried to just pop the whole fruit in my mouth and work around the seed, I kept getting scared that I would end up choking on the fruit due to the size, so I ended that attempt fairly quickly.  Here is a link with “formal” step-by-step instructions on how to eat a rambutan.  (After reading this, I just put some in the freezer and look forward to trying them after freezing.)

Not surprisingly, since we are talking about fruit, it has several health benefits.  Some of the benefits listed in this article from Healthline are that the fruit is a good source of soluble and insoluble fiber, vitamin C, and copper.  It also has a large water content.  These can potentially benefit digestion, weight, and other aspects of health.

All in all, I did enjoy the rambutans.  They were not necessarily one of the easiest and neatest fruits to eat, but they were good.  Would I go out of my way to purchase them again?  Maybe not; they were tasty but kind of pricey.  If I am somewhere where they are being served, I will certainly have some and enjoy them.  I am glad that I had the chance to try them and learn a little about them.  We shall see what I will try next or what other type of “random” produce my husband may pick-up the next time he shops.  (Or, perhaps I will include something different in my next Imperfect Foods box.)  As the weather gets colder and the pandemic here does not seem to be going away, I have extra incentive to keep trying new things in the kitchen.  It’s a two-fer:  a new activity plus a meal or snack!  I am trying to make the most of these crazy times!  

If you are interested in trying more bizarre fruits, give dragon fruit a look. I did!