Fruits in Bali

Going to Asia, anyone wants to eat plenty of different fruits.
Fruits in Bali is another reason to go to the island, because the variety of their types, tastes and shapes will not leave anyone indifferent. Of course, watermelons, bananas, pineapples, etc. also grow in Bali. But in this article we will talk about those fruits that we are not used to seeing on store shelves, and some of them may never have been seen at all. All of them grow in Bali and neighboring islands.

Avocado (locally called Alpukat)
Season: all year round

The avocado has a green skin and is shaped like a pear. Inside, slightly greenish flesh and a large bone. The fruits are rich in vitamins and minerals. They are sold throughout the year, only in the low season the fruits are more solid. A ripe avocado tastes like a nut, and the texture is like melted butter. An overripe avocado becomes too soft, so it is better to take slightly green fruits that will ripen in 2-3 days.

Pineapple (locally called Nanas)
Season: all year round

This is also an exotic fruit, although it has become familiar to us. Select fruits by smell. Even if sweetness is felt through the peel, you must take it. Greenish pineapples will be more acidic. The most juicy and sugary fruits are elongated, and small pot-bellied fruits have a citrus flavor.

Bananas (locally called Pisang)
Season: all year round

There are actually many types of bananas. They differ in length, shape and size of the fruit. And, of course, taste.

Guava (locally called Jambu biji)
Season: all year round

Guava is a fruit that looks like a large green apple. (although there are varieties with raspberry-colored skins, but this is not in Thailand). Now it is a very popular fruit in Thailand, although its homeland is South America. They prefer to use it unripe and with a peel, when the flesh is still firm and sweet and sour (more sweet) in taste. When guava matures, it becomes looser and less expressive in taste. Guava flesh is white or pink. Inside, a vast area is occupied by inedible bones (from a hundred to half a thousand pieces). Often guava is used to make desserts.

Durian (locally called Durian)
Season: December-March

All people are divided into 2 types: those who love durian, and those who hate it, there is no other way. This is because this green-yellow fruit, the size of a small melon, covered with rather sharp spikes, has such a strong rotten smell that it is officially banned by many airlines, because it does not disappear for weeks. You will especially enjoy its aroma when you open the durian - some do not withstand this at all. But do not rush to draw conclusions: the taste does not quite match the smell. For many, to taste, it is associated with buttercream or with potatoes with garlic and rotten cabbage.
Do not use it in combination with alcohol, as well as pregnant and lactating women.

Jackfruit (locally called Nangka)
Season: April - September

First of all, the jackfruit is the largest tree fruit in the world! Its weight can reach 30 or more kilograms and have a diameter of up to 60cm.
Outwardly, it is somewhat similar to durian, but less pimply.
Because of their size, jackfruit is usually sold already divided into slices. But if you want to buy a whole or half and get slices out of it yourself, then it’s better to do it with gloves, otherwise it will be difficult to wash your hands from the sticky substance that is inside it. Of all Bali fruits, jackfruit is the most nutritious: it contains about 40% carbohydrates, as well as vitamin A, potassium, calcium, etc.

Coconut (locally called Kelapa)
Season: all year round

This is perhaps one of the most popular and useful fruits of our planet!
Its importance as a source of vitamins and minerals useful for humans is difficult to overestimate. Add to this the abundance of other beneficial qualities inherent in coconut water, coconut milk, coconut pulp, and the coke nut itself, and here it is a fruit that cannot be ignored!

Lychee (locally called Leci)
Season: all year round

Lychee fruits look and taste very similar to strawberries. They have a bright pink skin with small scales, and the flesh is white, very sweet. You don’t need to eat the peel, the inner bone also needs to be thrown away. Lychee is one of the most juicy and aromatic tropical fruits in Indonesia. It is often added to cocktails, desserts and even cosmetics. The fruit is famous for its high content of vitamin C, phosphorus and iron.

Longan (locally called Lengkeng)
Season: June - September

Sandy brown balls do not look appetizing at first, but the fruits themselves are quite juicy. The taste is just sweet, not cloying. Easy to clean, with prolonged storage they dry out and are more difficult to clean. Inside hard smooth bone.

Mango (locally called Mangga)
Season: October - February

There are several varieties of mangoes on the island, and they are all very tasty. The fruit is characterized by an unusually sweet viscous pulp of bright yellow color. Inside the fruit is a long flat bone. To determine the ripeness of a mango, smell it - ripe fruits have a juicy sweet smell. The fruit is rich in vitamins A, C, E, as well as selenium and potassium. Mango improves vision and skin condition.

White Mango (locally called Wani Biji)
Season: December - March

A rather unique fruit that grows only in Bali. The taste is moderately sweet, but not for everyone. It's definitely worth a try!
If it is caught ripe, then it can be very tasty when chilled! It also has a pleasant pleasant smell.
The skin is usually not peeled, cut and eaten. Buy in the same way as a mango - so that it is a little soft.

Mangosteen (locally called Manggis)
Season: May - July

The fruit itself looks like a small spherical eggplant, but completely different in content and taste. Inside it has white soft slices, externally the slices are like in garlic, and the consistency is soft like the pulp of a peach. Edible in mangosteen, it is these slices and their sweet and sour tropical taste that are amazing and can hardly be compared with anything! The size of a mature fruit is about the size of an average apple.

Passion fruit (locally called Markisa)
Season: January - April

It is a fruit in the form of an onion with a branch-tail. It grows on a vine and also comes from Latin America, although it has long taken root in Asia. It is covered with an orange dense peel and is very light. This is because inside this hard shell there is a weightless white jelly-like mass with edible crispy bones, which is also most convenient to eat with a spoon. The taste of passion fruit is unusual and refined. So much so that in translation into English its name sounds like “passion fruit” (passion fruit). It contains a whole palette of vitamins from A to K, it is recommended for diseases of the intestines and liver, with low blood pressure, and also as a natural antipyretic. A ripe passion fruit should have a peel that can be squeezed through. By the way, experienced travelers say that Bali fruit is much tastier than in Thailand and the Philippines, so be sure to add it to your shopping list.

Papaya (locally called Pepaya)
Season: all year round

A large green-orange fruit shaped like a melon. It comes from South America, but now its palm-shaped trees can be found in various tropical countries, including Bali. Inside the papaya is a bright orange pulp and small seeds in the core. It is juicy and moderately sweet, it makes excellent fresh juices and salads, although it is usually eaten right away. In Bali, as a rule, papaya is large - from 3 kg. It is most convenient to cut it lengthwise into slices, like a melon, peel and pit and eat. Papaya is so useful that it is prescribed for patients with gastrointestinal problems, because it contains the enzyme papain, which cleanses the body. Papaya also strengthens the immune system, contains antioxidants and is completely harmless to the figure. When choosing this Balinese fruit, do not take the shiny, beautiful green papaya.

Pepino (locally called Buah Pepino)

Pepino, or melon pear, resembles a yellow melon with dark longitudinal strokes in appearance, only its surface is smooth, not rough. The pulp of the fruit has a delicate aroma and a delicious sweet taste, similar to a melon. Before use with pepino, the first thing to do is peel off the peel, which has an unpleasant odor.

Dragon fruit or Pitahaya (locally called Buah naga)
Season: May-October

Pitahaya, better known as the dragon fruit, is a rich pink fruit with funny green scales. Pitahaya flesh is white with many small black grains, and has a sweet and watery taste, somewhat reminiscent of banana, kiwi and strawberries. Dragon fruit is a very useful thing, especially for diseases of the endocrine system and stomach problems.

Pomelo (locally called Jeruk Pomelo)
Season: all year round

Pomelo in nature is a very large fruit (up to 10 kg in weight and up to 29 cm in diameter), but fruits with a weight of 1-1.5 kg are sold and used.
The color of the pomelo can be from greenish to yellow. The pulp is similar in structure to the pulp of all citrus fruits, pale pink or pale green, or almost white transparent (depending on the variety) and tastes sweet and sour with barely perceptible notes of bitterness.

Rambutan (locally known as Rambutan)
Season: May-October

Green-red hairies, they usually arouse interest primarily for their unusual appearance. The taste is sweet and sour, not cloying, very fresh. Easy to clean, just peel off the skin. One inconvenience - the pulp is bitten off along with the skin from the bone, but everything is perfectly chewed and you don’t have to bother about it. Some eat with the bones, but I prefer to throw away the bones.
Usually sold in bunches.

Savo (locally called Sawo)

Slightly larger than a fist, rounded savo fruits are covered with a brownish, velvety skin reminiscent of kiwi. The pulp of this fruit is yellowish-pinkish-brown in color, soft, sweet, reminiscent of a ripe pear in texture, and dried fruit in taste.

Sirsak or Soursop (locally called Sirsak)
Season: June - September

Sirsak is used to prepare ice cream and desserts, salads, and is also eaten fresh or added to necks. The fruits themselves are harvested while still green, unripe, due to the fact that ripe fruits, falling to the ground, burst from gravity. After harvesting, it is stored in a warm room, where the fruits ripen and become soft.
The pulp from the fruit can be eaten with a spoon, or cut into cubes and eaten with a fork. It is eaten in much the same way as papaya. Sirsak is rich in vitamins and minerals. It has a beneficial effect on the intestinal flora, normalizes the functioning of the liver, the acidity of the gastric tract, removes excess uric acid from the body, so it is recommended for people with diseases such as arthritis, rheumatism. Contains vitamins B and C.

Salak or Snakefruit (locally called Salak)
Season: all year round

Salak, aka lard, aka snake fruit. A small unusual fruit with a skin very similar to a snake skin. (hence the name - snake fruit).
The taste of herring is difficult to describe, and there are very different opinions in which it is compared with apples, strawberries, and citrus fruits. It contains both sweetness and sourness, therefore the best option (as in everything) is to try it and, as a result, form your own opinion. :). The fruit itself is small, comparable in size to a kiwi. Its peel is thin, and under it are two or four slices with a stone. Their density varies and is also difficult to characterize. It can be crumbly and crispy, or it can be juicy like an apple.

Tamarillo (locally called Terong Belanda)
Season: May - September

Sweet and sour dark red fruit. Pretty interesting taste. Easy to cut and eat straight with a spoon. It is also great to add it to the necks. The rind is usually not eaten.

Tamarind (locally called Asam)

Outwardly, tamarind fruits are pods up to 3 cm wide and up to 20 cm long.
The contents of these pods are unexpectedly similar to dates both in appearance and in taste. Tamarind is popularly called the Indian date for this.
Inside these "dates" there are 5-7 harmless bones, small as beads. The taste of tamarind, as mentioned above, is similar to dates, but it also has a great resemblance to dried fruits such as dried apricots and prunes, and has something in common with apple jam and toffee sweets.

Of course, this is not all the fruits of Bali, but only a short list of what is worth trying in the first place.

Where to buy fruit in Bali?
- in the local market
- in the supermarket Nirmala or Pepito (in the latter the price will be 2-3 times higher)
— order freshly squeezed juice in a cafe
– stop on the way home and buy from locals in a tent
- on the beach at the merchants, already cut into pieces in bags or fruit will be cut right in front of you
Some fruits grow directly in the gardens of houses, or they can be picked on the way to the house. For example, often in rented houses you can find a Papaya tree or a mango, and pick a Jackfruit on the way to the house.

You can buy whole fruits and stretch the pleasure, or you can take a tray with already cut fruits for a small snack on the beach.

Only when buying, always pay attention to seasonality: in the off-season, fruits are several times more expensive and not ripe enough, because they are brought from abroad, and in the season everything is own, dear, and costs a penny.