Today’s Tasting: The Exotic Fruits of Indonesia

Clockwise from left: jack fruit (yellow), longan cluster, dragon fruit, shine muscat grapes, baby coconut, saba bananas, wax apples, sopadillas, sweet sapphire grapes, snake fruits. Center left: passion fruit (mottled orange). Center: sweet oranges.

ONE HAS THE SOFT AND LAYERED TEXTURE of wet toilet paper.  Another appears covered in snake skin. A third has the flavor of a date and the texture of congealed cream of wheat.

Welcome to today’s treat, the exotic fruits of Indonesia. If you think the world of produce is at your door because Safeway sells coconuts, think again, my friend! There are some wacky fruits out there that seem unlikely ever to cross the U.S.’s threshold. And no, I’m not talking about durian, the spiny, blimp-sized fruit that reeks of vomit. Durian is commonly found in U.S. specialty markets whose customers don’t have noses.

The fruits pictured above are from one day’s shop at the morning market in Ubud, Bali. Some are unknown to most Westerners while others are most familiar in another form. Post-shopping research revealed that many of them aren’t native to Indonesia at all, although they are sold here.

Here’s a rundown of some of these fun, fun, fun fruits.

Jackfruit (nangka)

I’d heard of this before, but had only encountered it growing wild on the Napali coast of Hawaii, where the exterior resembles a pineapple. Jackfruit in Indonesia is a large, roundish fruit with a bumpy husk like ostrich skin. Vegans use it as a meat substitute.

Tasting notes: The flesh is juiceless and meaty in texture, easily separating into strips and sections containing a smooth, black seed. The flavor is tasty and mildly sweet, approximately banana level of intensity. Low acidity. Very noshable. 

Related to: Fig, mulberry, and breadfruit

Soursop  (sirsak)

Soursop is a large, slightly oblong fruit with a leathery, spiny, green skin. The interior is milky white and separates into thin layers like sopping-wet toilet tissue. Among the layers are a few black, shiny seeds. Originally from the Caribbean and Central America.

Tasting notes: Sweet, enjoyable flavor with a light, citrusy kick. Soft, juicy, layered texture.

Related to: custard apple

A very ripe soursop

Sopadilla (sawo)

A dead ringer, visually, for a small, brown-skinned potato. The skin is very thin, like a non-fuzzy kiwi. Originally from Mexico and Central America.

Tasting notes: the flavor is similar to a dried date while the flesh is soft and a little mealy. The texture and mildly astringent skin stopped me after two bites, but the friend I was tasting with LOVED it. For me, sopadilla would be delicious in a smoothie or rum cocktail. 

Related to: more obscure fruits from the Manilkara genus of tropical trees.

Longan (lengkeng)

Little khaki-colored fruits that grow in clusters like grapes with a rough, dry peel that is easy to remove because it attaches only at the stem. Very lychee-like in general, but half the size.

Tasting notes: Juicy and tasty with translucent white flesh and a flavor similar to lychee. Large, smooth seed in the middle to be spat out. Relatively low flesh-to-seed ratio.

Related to: Lychee and rambutan

Wax apple (apel lilin)

Popular U.S. apple varieties like fuji are common in Indonesia, but I haven’t had a good one. Wax apples, which resemble a small, bright red pear, are too delicate to throw in your handbag, but flavor-wise are the apple of choice in this part of the world. 

Tasting notes: Juicy with delicate flesh and a thin skin like a pear. Pronounced round indentation in its bottom. Tastes like a flavorful apple.

Related to: myrtle

Snake fruit (buah ular)

This small fruit with a brown, scaly peel resembles nothing so much as a headless, heart-shaped snake. It grows in tight clusters at the base of palm trees; the fruits are typically separated for sale.

Tasting notes: The dry, thin peel is easily removed, similar to lychee and longan.

Each fruit separates into sections like cloves of garlic. The white flesh has a delicious, apple-adjacent flavor and juicy, crisp texture. 

Related to: no other commonly consumed fruits

Passion fruit (buah markisa)

Passion fruit is gaining recognition in the mainland U.S. and is popular in Hawaii. Typically it’s consumed as syrup, juice, or jam. 

Tasting notes: Pretty, plum-sized, oval fruit with a smooth peel that varies in color (green, yellow, purple). The flesh consists of seeds covered in a gelatinous substance and so is most easily eaten with a spoon. Intense, complex flavor and zingy acidity — really yum. 

Related to: No other commonly eaten fruit

Interior view of the sopadilla, wax apple, and passion fruit (grey seeds)

Sweet orange (jeruk)

These mandarin-sized, orange-and-green skinned fruits are common across much of Indonesia.

Tasting notes: Easy to peel. Small sections, very juicy. Sweet, sour, and tangy. The skins give off a light diesel aroma, similar to certain German Riesling wines. Most likely they share an ester. 

Related to: All the citrus fruits

Shine muscat grapes (anggur muscat mengkilap)

The only other place I had encountered these preternaturally green, voluptuous grapes was in Japan, which it turns out is their country of origin. The Japanese have a thing about fruit and also perfection, which manifests in this hybridized variety.

Tasting notes: Vibrant honeydew-green, super juicy, and bursting with flavor. There is no toughness to the skin, no seeds, no edgy acidity, and no gelatinous mouth feel. A poster child for mutant excellence.

Hybridization of: Akitsu-21 and Hakunan varieties. Related to all grapes

Dragon fruit (buah naga)

This purple fruit in a Rococo pink peel is commonly grown in Indonesia for home use and is widely available in markets. Dragon fruits grow on a leggy cactus originally from Central and South America. 

Tasting notes: The thick peel is easy to remove, revealing beet-purple or white flesh sprinkled with tiny black seeds. The mild flavor and texture somewhat resemble kiwi, but with lower acidity. Very good taste, but the appearance is the real show-stopper.

Related to: prickly pear

Baby coconut (bayi kelapa)

The cute little thing pictured is a regular coconut, but is immature and thus orange. Mature husks turn green.

Tasting notes: Baby coconuts are terrific because they contain plenty of liquid and the flesh is soft enough to scoop out easily with a spoon. Fun, slippery texture – not yet meaty – and a winning, mildly sweet, earthy-nutty flavor.

Related to: dates and other palm fruits

Sawa banana (pisang kepok)

There are many types of bananas in Indonesia, including the long cavendish variety that represents 99% of the U.S. market. In Indonesia, cavendishes are mostly found at convenience store chains while local markets sell the smaller, less commercialized varieties.

Tasting notes: Almost universally, I find small banana types have more flavor than U.S. ones. Some have light-orange flesh. Some are perfectly ripe when the peels are green. The thick peels can be very banged up and the fruit inside remain unblemished. The variety pictured, sawa banana, has an angular shape, an almost fluffy texture, and is used in banana fritters and fruit compote. 

Related to: plantain

Sweet sapphire aka moon drop grapes (anggur tetes bulan (direct translation))

The internet tells me that this is a cross-bred (not GMO) grape from California that has been around since 2004. It is long, thin, and purple-black; grows in loose clusters; and has a dimpled bottom.

Tasting notes: It is truly novel to eat a grape that looks like a dead man’s finger. Relatively low in acid with a high flesh-to-juice ratio. Crispy, tasty, satisfying to chomp.

Related to: All grapes. The Beita Mouni variety is one of its two cross-breeding components. The other is a secret.

The morning market in Ubud, Bali.

Read about my cultural insights tour of Southeast Asia in the post “Reaching escape velocity.”