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Aroy Mak Mak

Rambutan

เงาะ

Ngoh: a hairy red shell around sweet, juicy, lychee-like flesh.

Rambutan

Rambutan’s name comes from the Malay word for hair, and its red shell is covered in soft, hair-like spines. Inside is a translucent, juicy white fruit around a single seed, sweeter and milder than a lychee.

Pronunciationngor
FlavourSweet, juicy and mildly tart, like a milder lychee
SeasonMay to September
EatenFresh; also canned in syrup or stuffed with pineapple

Varieties and where they grow

Rong Rien rambutan from Surat Thani in the south is the most famous: crisp, sweet and easy to peel away from the seed. Si Chompoo, with a pinkish shell, is common in the east around Chanthaburi. The town of Ban Na San in Surat Thani even holds an annual rambutan festival in August.

How to open it

Pinch or score the shell around the middle with your thumbnail or a knife and pull off one half. Pop the fruit into your mouth and eat around the seed, which is not eaten; it has a thin papery skin that sometimes sticks to the flesh.

Choosing and storing

Choose bright red fruit with fresh, flexible spines that are still green or red at the tips. Black, dry spines mean old fruit. Rambutans keep only a few days, so keep them in a bag in the fridge.

In Thai food

Mostly eaten fresh. Peeled, seeded rambutans stuffed with pineapple are a classic canned dessert, and rambutans sometimes appear in red curry with roast duck, in place of lychees.

Cook’s tip

Chill rambutans for an hour before eating. Cold, they are crisp and refreshing, the perfect hot-season snack.

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