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Aroy Mak Mak

Pineapple

สับปะรด

Sapparot: small, sweet and fragrant, eaten fresh and cooked into curries and fried rice.

Pineapple

Thailand is one of the world’s biggest pineapple producers. Thai pineapples are often smaller than supermarket ones, with a crunchier core and a sweet, fragrant flesh, and they are sold everywhere from fruit carts, peeled, cut and served on a stick.

Pronunciationsap-pa-rot
FlavourSweet, fragrant and tangy
SeasonYear-round, best from April to June
EatenFresh, in curries, fried rice and khanom jeen sao nam

Varieties

  • Phuket (also grown in the east and south): small, crisp and very sweet, with a tender, edible core.
  • Phu Lae: tiny pineapples from Chiang Rai, sweet and crunchy, eaten core and all.
  • Pattavia (Smooth Cayenne): the large, juicy pineapple grown in Prachuap Khiri Khan and used for canning.

In Thai food

Pineapple goes into red curry with roast duck (gaeng phed ped yang), sour curry, and the sweet-sour stir-fry pad priao wan. It is the star of khao pad sapparot, fried rice served in a hollowed-out pineapple, and of khanom jeen sao nam, cold rice noodles with pineapple, coconut milk, dried shrimp and ginger.

At fruit carts, fresh pineapple is sprinkled with prik kluea (sugar, salt and chilli), which makes it taste even sweeter.

Choosing one

Choose a heavy pineapple that smells sweet at the base and has golden skin near the bottom. The leaves should be fresh and green; a leaf that pulls out easily from the top is another sign of ripeness.

Cook’s tip

Sprinkle a little salt on fresh pineapple, as Thais do. It cuts the acidity, takes away the tingle on your tongue, and brings out the sweetness.

More Fruits

All Fruits

Recipes with Pineapple