Cuisine / Thai Fruits
Visitors to Thailand may be surprised at the astonishing variety of succulent fruits available, including not only familiar ones but others that rank high on the scale of gourmet discoveries. Many kinds of fruit are available throughout the year, while some make their much-anticipated appearance for only a few months.
One finds the full array of Thai fruits at almost any public market. A market with a particular large selection of Thai fruit is on Phahonyothin Road across from the entrance to the Weekend Market at Chatuchak Park. While it’s quite a distance from downtown Bangkok, one is rewarded not only by a great variety but also by low prices.
Traditionally complementing almost every meal, Thailand’s abundant fruits are served in a wide variety of ways. Fruit carving is a traditional Thai art and many kinds of fruit, in particular papaya, water-melon, pineapple and sapodilla, arrive at the table transformed by skilled hands into beautiful flowers and other shapes. Close attention is paid to the arrangement of platters of fresh fruit to make a selection as appealing to the eye as it is to the palate.
Thai fruits are also liquified in blenders to produce nourishing drinks for a hot day, turned into icy sherbets, and used in Western ways to create excitingly different dishes like mango tart, coconut custard and rose apple pies.
Mango
Thai name: Ma-muang
Scientific name: Mangifera indica L.
Season: March to June
Those who know mangos only from the varieties found in places like Hawaii, Mexico or the West Indies may think they have discovered a new fruit in the light-colored, delicately flavored mangos that turn up on Thai markets between March and June. More than a dozen different kinds are grown, many of them hybrids developed in Thailand. They have become so popular among mango connoisseurs in neighboring countries that nearly 3 million kilograms (6.6 million lbs) are exported annually.
Thais eat mangos in a number of ways, depending on the variety. Some types are traditionally served at the peak of ripeness, accompanied by a mound of glutinous rice topped with sweetened coconut milk; the light yellow ok rong and the slightly darker nam dok mai are especially good in this way.
Other kinds, such as kiao sa woei are more often eaten as a condiment or in salads when the skin is still dark green and the flesh is white. Mangos are also pickled (ma muang dong), soaked in sugar water (ma muang chae im) salted and dried (ma muang khem), or turned into jams and chutneys.
Durian
Thai name: Thurian
Scientific name: Durio zibethinus L.
Season: May to August
Beginning in May and extending through August, the durian announces its presence in Thai markets with a distinctive, highly pervasive aroma. To Thais, as well as to many other Asians, the stink is a welcome odor for they regard durian as the king of fruits, a rare delicacy that is well worth the comparatively high price it commands.
Some visitors, on the other hand, are deterred by the potent smell and never actually sample the creamy golden flesh hidden within the spiny exterior - thereby missing one of the truly great pleasures of fruit eating. "The more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop," wrote Alfred Russell Wallace, after eating his first durian on Borneo in the 19th century, and most of those who follow his example are likely to agree with him.
Thai durians are noted for their subtle flavor and smooth texture, often winning over gourmets who have failed to respond in other countries where the fruit grows. Three of the most popular varieties (and there are several dozen to choose from) are cha ni, kan yao, and, perhaps the most prized of all, mon thong.
Banana
Thai name: Kluai
Scientific name: Musa sapientum L.
Season: all year
Bananas are perhaps the most popular of all tropical fruits, and Thailand has about 20 different varieties, ranging from fragrant, sweet little "finger bananas" to large specimens with thick golden skins. The fruit is also among the most versatile and turns up at Thai meals in numerous forms besides fresh at the peak of ripeness.
When young and green, they may be eaten raw as a vegetable with a spicy sauce; more developed, but still unripe, they are sliced, dried in the sun, and fried for a snack. Bananas are also grilled and soaked with syrup (kluai ping), boiled in coconut milk with salt and sugar (kluai buat chi), boiled in syrup (kluai chuam), smoked in the peel (kluai phao), and turned into golden fritters (kluai khaek).
Grapes
Thai name: A-ngune
Scientific name: Vitis vinifera L.
Season: September to April
Real grapes in a hot country like Thailand? By all means, and delicious ones, too, both red and white, and available all year round though the peak fruiting season is September through April. Actually, most of the varieties grown were developed at Kasetsat Agricultural University to thrive under tropical conditions and are now an important source of income for many farmers in Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi and Samut Sakhon Provinces.
Thai wine is also being made and while a bit sweet for most European palates is nonetheless steadily improving in quality.
Sweet Orange
Thai name: Som-tra
Scientific name: Citrus sinensis Osb.
Season: all year
This is among the sweetest and the juiciest of oranges, with a yellowish-green peel and bright yellow flesh; the segments are generally eaten fresh or squeezed for their juice. The main season is September through November, but some sweet oranges can be found in the markets all year round. Tangerines (som khiao wan in Thai) are also grown extensively in Thailand and eaten in the same way as the oranges.
Coconut
Thai name: Ma-phrao
Scientific name: Cocos nucifera L.
Season: all year
Coconuts, available throughout the year, are inescapable at a Thai meal for in some form they figure in almost every dish. Coconut milk is a prominent ingredient of curries and soups, and the sliced or grated flesh turns up in many as well; it is even more ubiquitous in desserts, appearing as the basis of delicate custards, in the form of candy, as crispy strips cooked in brown syrup, and in countless other confections.
For a visitor, an especially exotic treat on a hot day is a freshly opened young coconut, whose tender white flesh and sweet juice can be enjoyed whenever the mood strikes.
Mangosteen
Thai name: Mang Khut
Scientific name: Garcinia mangostana L.
Season: April to September
Southern Thailand (see entries on Surat Thani) is the home of the mangosteen, which appears on markets in May and continues through most of the rainy season. This delicious fruit has a thick, dark-red skin, inside which are creamy white segments with a sweet, slightly tart flavor; as a general rule, the more segments a mangosteen has, the fewer seeds one will find.
A knife is used to slit the skin around the middle, after which it opens easily and the flesh can be eaten with a fork as a memorable after-meal treat.
Pineapple
Thai name: Sapparot
Scientific name: Ananas comosus Merr.
Season: April to June and December to January
The pineapple is native of Central America (Christopher Colombus discovered it along with the West Indies) and it has been grown in Thailand for several centuries, especially in the sandy soil along the sea coasts. Indeed, so widespread has cultivation been in recent years that today the kingdom ranks as the world’s leading exporter of canned pineapple.
Besides being eaten fresh or drunk as juice, the chopped fruit is often an ingredient of cooked dishes such as a spicy soup called kaeng khua sapparot and phat sapparot, which is fried pineapple with prawns, chillies, and onions. The main fruiting seasons for Thailand are April to June and December to January but some varieties are on the market year-round.
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