Bangkok fruit vendor

Westerners from even the more abundant agricultural nations will quickly become transfixed by the breadth of palate to be sampled in the fruits commonly found in Thailand.  Fruits here are categorized as either seasonal (e.g. durian, lychee, longan, mango, mangosteen) or year-round (banana, jackfruit, papaya, pineapple).  Here is your guide to the most common, encountered in virtually every Thai city and town. 

Custard-Apple (noi-naa), also known as “sugar apple”
Botanical name: Annona reticulata
Description: lumpy green skin
Taste:  sweet
How to peel and eat it:  pull the two halves apart with hands or knife, and eat fruit with a spoon
Available June through September 

Durian (thurian)
Botanical name: Bombaceae Durio zibethinus L./Murr
Description:  spiky and green, approximately the size of a human head
Taste:  sweet and custard-like
How to peel and eat it:  Peeling is best left to the experts.  It takes roughly ½ hour to open it and remove the sectional fruit.  Lots of stringy detritus, similar to what you’d find in a pumpkin.
Additional notes:  Called “the king of fruits,”  the durian carries a strong smell, and is indeed banned indoors at many Asian hotels and places of business.  The noted 19^th century English traveler Sir Henry Yule referred to it as “the prince of fruits to those that like it, but the chief of abominations to all strangers and novices.”  Its flesh is considered to be an aphrodisiac.  There are many different varieties of durian, but experts consider Golden Pillow to be the most delicious (also, the most expensive).  Other common varieties include Frog, and Transvestite (two commingled, said to be exceptionally good).  Available May through August.

 Gaow-mankon
Description:  approximately six inches high, three inches across.  Shiny, rose-colored skin with yellow-green fleshy spines.  Fruit is white with black specs.
Taste:  Tangy, with hints of coconut
How to peel and eat it:  with knife, cut all the way through, in circular fashion, top-to-bottom, until you have two halves.  Cut again, so fruit is in quarters.  Peel skin off each quarter as you eat. 

Guava
Botanical name: Psidium guajava L.
Description:  Pear-shaped, 2 – 4 inches long.  The fruit is soft when ripe, and tangerine-orange in color
Taste: Tangy and fruity
How to peel and eat it:  Peel with a knife, cut into quarters.  You may also peel from the top, and take bites.  You will get juice on your hands, so eat in a place where you can wash up.
Available all year

Jackfruit (kanoon)
Botanical name: Artocarpus heterophylus Lamk.
Description: approximately the size of a human hand, grayish-green skin
Taste: sweet
How to peel and eat it:  peel with a knife, cut into sections
Available January-May

Lamut (sapodilla)
Botanical name: Manilkara zapota L.
Description: Round to egg-shape, two to four2 – 4 inches in diameter. The skin is brown, and fruit varies from yellow to brown.
Taste: Sweet, described as similar to brown sugar.
Available October through December. 

Longkong (la mai, or lang-sat)
Botanical name: Lansium domesticum Corr.
Description:  shiny, light tan-brown skin, approximately one inch in diameter.
Taste:  Tangy
How to peel and eat it:  Skin is very soft, peel it like an orange.  Inside fruit is white, in three sections.  Remove each section and chew-suck on it, being careful of the large seed in each section.
Available May-October 

Longon (dragon’s eye, lam yai)
Botanical name: Euphoria longana L.
Description:  Hard brown skin, approximately one inch in diameter.
Taste: Tangy, with the consistency of a cocktail onion
How to peel and eat it:  Peel hard skin as you would an orange.  Put white fruit in your mouth, and chew, being careful to avoid the one large seed inside.
Available May through August 

Lychee
Botanical name: Litchi chinensis Sonn.
Description: A leathery exterior, pinkish red in color, oval or nearly round, 1 to 1-1/2 inches in length.
Taste:  Sweet, juicy
How to peel and eat it:  Peel with fingers
Available April and May

Mango (ma-muang)
Botanical name: Mangifera indica L.
Description: slightly larger than a human hand, green skin, with orange fruit
Taste: sweet, tangy
How to peel and eat it:  quarter the skin with a knife, and peel.  The fruit is slightly stringy, and it’s a bit messy to eat, but well worth the effort.
Available March-June.

Mangosteen (mang-khut)
Botanical name: Garcinia mangostana L.
Description:  purple, 1-2 inches in diameter, with four bulbous green bulbs surrounding the stem.
Taste: Tangy
How to peel and eat it:  It may be split by pressing carefully against the middle of the fruit, rolling around its circumference.  Pull apart the two halves, and one half will contain the sectioned white fruit.  Put each section into your mouth and suck. Some sections will contain a large seed, which you will spit out.
Notes: mangosteens will easily stain everything, so wash your fingers before you touch your clothes.
Available April through September.

Orange (som)
Botanical name: Citrus sinensis Osb.
Description:  yellow-green, approximately the size of a tangerine
Taste:  sweet, tangerine-like
How to peel and eat it:  use fingers, eat in sections
Notes. Tangerines (som khiao wan) are also commonly found.
Available all year

Papaya (malakaw)
Botanical name: Carica papaya L
Description: Pear-shaped fruit, weighs roughly one pound, with yellow skin.  The fruit is orange or pinkish, depending on variety, with small black seeds clustered in the center.  Papaya is the main ingredient of som tam salad.
Taste: Sweet, juicy, slightly toward cantaloupe
Available all year

Rambutan (ngor)
Botanical name: Nephelium lappaceum L.
Description: When ripe, it is red, with soft spikes, approximately 1 to 1.5 inches in circumference..  Unripened fruit is yellow, and hard when you squeeze it. 
Taste: sweet
How to peel and eat it:  Cut with a knife along its circumference.  Pull the two halves apart, which will expose the egg-like shape of the fruit in one half.  Eat it right out of the half, and peel off the remaining skin as you eat.
Available May through September.