Rambutan are the most beautiful, and they are are easy to open and taste good, but I don’t like the texture as well as Longan, and the flesh clings to the pit in one spot which makes them more of a pain to eat.
Fwiw we have bought beautiful rumbutans, bright red a furry. Then when im not looking my wife slings then in the fridge. That dark color is what they look like after refrigeration. They are a true tropical and dont like being held at 35 degrees. They still taste alright after refrigeration but just look ugly.
Eric,
That’s right. It applies to people, too. My relatives in Bangkok are complaining about cold weather and it is 65-68 F, a record cold for Bangkokians.
Full sized rambutan trees at my sister-in-law home in southern Thailand. She used to have an orchard with all kinds of tropical fruit trees including durian and rambutan. They can be almost as tall as coconut trees.
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like peaches, there are ‘clingstone’ and ‘freestone’ rambutan.
longans are generally freestone, just like lychees
beautiful and priceless aint it? If i were bill gates or buffett, will build a greenhouse in our yard just to accommodate one, or more, of these.
oh, and i should add, once the hypothetical backyard project of durian, rambutan, jackfruit, langsat, etc, proves fruitful, will build a conservatory several times bigger somewhere around here in vegas, for everyone to visit and learn about! All gratis!
dreaming am i not? lol!
The rabutan I ate were not freestone. The outer husk came off fairly easily but there was a coating on the actual rabutan itself that was difficult to remove. Sort of reminded me of the skin on a chestnut or more accurately the outer skin on fresh coconut.
So, you got the cling stone, then.
With free stone, you can peel the flesh off the seed but there is a layer of “fiber” between the flesh and the seed. It is edible but you can feel it when you chew it.
Yup, red hairy fruit cover the whole tree is really a pertty sight to see.
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That tree is simply gorgeous. What happened to the Durian and the rest of the orchard?
Thanks jujubemulberry,
I didn’t know that. I’ve probably only had rambutan 15 or 20 times, mostly in Singapore and Thailand. It’s only recently that I’d noticed the cling. I thought I was just paying better attention, but maybe ones I’ve had in the past were more free.
Your post implies that rambutan have superior varieties that are asexually propagated. Good news.
i actually think it adds character to the general taste and texture. I even bite around the seed too sometimes, lol![quote=“murky, post:31, topic:4111”]
Thanks jujubemulberry,
I didn’t know that. I’ve probably only had rambutan 15 or 20 times, mostly in Singapore and Thailand. It’s only recently that I’d noticed the cling. I thought I was just paying better attention, but maybe ones I’ve had in the past were more free.
Your post implies that rambutan have superior varieties that are asexually propagated. Good news.
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you’re welcome! there aren’t many named rambutan cultivars, but there are at least a dozen that have been acquainted with. The ones often served to tourists may not necessarily be the best. Or may just be the most common.
It is quite possible that there are more desirable species growing out in the wild/podunk villages in southeast asia, which have yet to be discovered and tapped by the general population.
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Lychees and Rambutan are very similar fruits
The Ramburans that I ate came from a fruit store that sells very high quality fruit so I assume they were a good variety. I saved one seed not knowing the temperature requirements. If someone in a zone 10 or 11 wants it I’ll mail the one seed.
I don’t think lychees and rambutans are “very similar” . On the other hand, there are people who think lychees and longans are similar. I can see that.
In Chicago land, many Italian grocery stores ( not big chain stores) carry Rambutan as well when they are in season. It tasteed sweet like lychee, but does not have lychee’s aroma, less juicy and the meat is a little tough than lychee
Here are your rambutans and a few other goodies. This is one of @ampersand’s friends in PA. I follow his video blog for fig reviews:
He goes to Hawaii and asks me to water his greenhouse…and there’s no ripe figs! Unjust!
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Ampersand,
Tell your friend to look for rambutans with red skin and green “hair”. Pink hair rambutans, in my experience, are always cling stone while green hair ones are free stone. You can tell from the pic I posted above.
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