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There are a lot of exotic and awesome fruit varieties in Southeast Asia. The fruit just never seems to get boring – and there’s such a great diversity available, depending on the season. Throughout the year you’ll find things like mango, pineapple, bananas, rose apples, oranges, and mangosteen, and some other exotic fruits like durian, jackfruit, cempedak, and of course, salak, which is commonly known is English as snake fruit. The reason salak is called snake fruit is because the skin is remarkably similar to a snake – it really does appear to have scales and is dark brown in color.
What is snake fruit? Salak is actually native to Indonesia, but nowadays it can be found all over southeast Asia and even other parts of the world. It grows from the base of certain palm trees in clusters of about 20 or so of the fruit pieces in one clump. The fruit is picked and can be eaten just straight out of the outer wrapper or it can be served in one of the many local sweet desserts. For myself, I prefer to eat snake fruit (salak), right out of the snake looking shell. For this video, I grabbed some of the fruit while at the Chow Kit Market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. However, it’s possible to eat snake fruit all over southeast Asia and I frequently eat it on the streets of Bangkok where vendors conveniently peel it and package in plastic bags so you can eat it on the go.
What does salak taste like? Well, it kind of reminds me of a fermented apple. It’s super juicy and is almost like alcoholic apple juice – that is if the snake fruit is really ripe and ready to eat. I think the flavor is wonderful. It’s an exotic fruit, but I’m sure it would be quite appealing to most who give it a try.
There is one catch to eating snake fruit, and if you read the article above you’ll know what it is. But basically, just remember to eat that small white film that comes wrapped around each morsel of the fruit, don’t peel it! Eat too many peeled fruits and you could face constipation consequences – go it?! Let’s just say that I was in Indonesia eating snake fruit without knowing the consequences and though I ate about 25 pieces, I luckily overcame the force!
Next time you see some snake fruit (salak), be sure to give it a try!
Music used in this video:
Song Title: Book of the Monkey
Author: Dan O’Connor (Dan-O at DanoSongs.com)
Direct Link: http://www.danosongs.com/#music
Download Link: http://www.danosongs.com/music/danosongs.com-bookofthemonkey.mp3
License: http://danosongs.com/danosongs.com-license.pdf
Follow my food adventures at http://migrationology.com/ & http://www.eatingthaifood.com/ Also check out my Bangkok travel guide http://migrationology.com/ebook-101-things-to-do-in-bangkok/ and my Thai food guide http://www.eatingthaifood.com/eating-thai-food-guide/
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