Fresh Rambutan Fruit Approx. 500g
Thai Name: Ngok
Rambutan, or Ngok in Thai, is one of the most intriguing looking fruits to be found anywhere around the globe. At first sight many people would mistakenly thing that the Rambutan is inedible, just because it looks entirely alien as a fruit. Nothing could be further from the truth, between July and September this delicious fruit can be found in every market, and truck loads are sold at the roadside straight from harvest. If you are in Thailand during this time, then you just have to try them. Thai people flock to buy this fruit whilst it is in season, and the reason is simple, it just tastes so good.
Rambutan do look strange, a blood red fruit with over 100 large spikes sticking straight out like a porcupine. One could be forgiven for believing that the Rambuitan is inedible at first sight. However, the flesh is easily pierced with a thumb and the spikes are harmless. Once the skin has been peeled away, what is left resembles a Lychee, soft white flesh, sweet and juicy, they even taste something like a slightly sweeter lychee.
Thai people do not prepare Rambutan for cooking, and they are seldom used as part of any formal dish, although they often find their way into fruit salads and sweet shakes. Instead, Rambutan are eaten as a snack fruit, purchased by the kilo, sometimes refrigerated before eating, and consumed upon the day of purchase.
Rambutan do have a very good nutritional value, including a high vitamin C content, although unfortunately they do have a fairly high sugar content when completely ripe.
Anybody who enjoys Lychee or any similar fruit will simply adore Rambutan. A large, sweeter, much more satisfying version of the Lychee, which is not only tasty to eat, but entirely attractive in its visual image.
This fruit is only usually available between the months of January and October. Outside these months, it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to procure it from Thailand.
Fresh produce of Thailand.
