Thailand is a real paradise for connoisseurs of exotic fruits, because they grow here in great abundance. Coming here and not trying the local exotics is a big mistake. Among all the abundance offered, one can note interesting balls that look as if they were made from snake skin. These are not handicrafts of local craftsmen, but fruits. They are called salak or salakka, in the local dialect - rakam, and in folklore - snake fruit.
At first glance, this fruit really looks like a handicraft, a ball of snakeskin covered with scales. The texture is so similar that the appearance of this fruit can seriously surprise and puzzle a tourist who encounters it for the first time.
But the proximity to other fruits on shelves and display cases makes it easy to mistake – this is really a plant, edible, exotic.
Not only the fruit itself is covered with scales - if you are lucky enough to see the plant in its natural form, you will notice that even its shoots are covered in scales and needles. This is a tree-like low-growing palm tree, the height of which does not exceed 2 meters, with a knotty trunk covered with large scales, a wide crown, and spreading leaves. The plant protects itself with large black thorns, and the spreading crown consists of leaves that can grow up to 7 meters in length. They are glossy, green, and their petioles are covered with needles.
What does herring look like?
It is a dioecious plant, meaning individuals can be male or female. Male inflorescences are very large, up to a meter, have a club-shaped shape, while the size of female inflorescences does not exceed 30 cm, and after pollination fruits are set on them and later ripen. They have an oval or pear-shaped shape, are narrowed at the base, the diameter is about 4 cm, and the weight is no more than 100 grams.
Under the snake skin of the fruit there is pulp, it is translucent and beige. You can also find an inedible bone there. The fruit is cultivated in the tropical zone in many countries, but it is most characteristic of the Asian southeast, where it is grown even at home and is actively used in the preparation of traditional dishes.
Herring season in Thailand
The herring season in Thailand begins in the summer; it is at this time that the fruits are harvested en masse, and consequently, prices for the fruit fall. You can buy it in the markets for about 50 baht per kilogram; in stores, prices are usually a little higher. At the beginning and end of the season, prices are also high, but the fruit is worth trying anyway. In winter it can also be found on sale, but it will be prohibitively expensive.
Taste of herring
The taste of this fruit is sweet and sour, and it is not so easy to describe it. Some will say that it looks like a mixture of pineapple and banana, others will note the presence of a certain nutty aroma, many tourists emphasize that this fruit reeks of perfume and this makes its taste quite specific. In any case, it is worth noting that it is slightly astringent, the presence of tannins in it is beyond doubt, and this is especially true for unripe herring. Being used to the bright sweetness of most local fruits, you may experience some contrast by choosing this fruit.
Useful properties of herring
Like all local fruits, herring has its own list of beneficial properties that make its purchase and consumption especially attractive. There is no doubt about the abundance of tannins contained in this fruit, and therefore it is quite natural that it is actively used to rid the body of waste and toxins. Hemorrhoids and diarrhea are also problems from the list of those that can be corrected with herring. The fruit is also known to stop bleeding.
Tannin, which is contained in herring, is able to disinfect the human body and remove pathogenic microflora, especially from the digestive organs. Eating the fruit has a good effect on the functioning of the intestines; inflammation and irritation in this area are easily relieved. Local medicine also emphasizes that decoctions from it help fight eye problems, restoring and improving vision.
Harm of herring
In general, this fruit is considered harmless, but people who have never tried it in the past, and who are generally touching exotic things for the first time, should remember some points that are relevant when purchasing both this and a number of other fruits:
- You shouldn’t overeat right away or eat fruits that are new to you in large quantities, this can lead to an eating disorder.
- Taste carefully and monitor yourself so as not to fall victim to allergies.
- Buy only fresh fruits to avoid diarrhea.
- Do not forget about hygiene standards and the need to wash fruits before eating.
If you follow these simple rules correctly, you should not have any problems when eating herring. The only exception can be personal intolerance, as a feature of the body.
How to choose the right herring?
When choosing such a fruit, you should pay attention to the size, since it is believed that large fruits are tastier. . It is also worth paying attention to its external condition - you cannot buy depressed, dented, cracked fruits; such imperfections significantly shorten the already short shelf life of the product. In addition, it is worth noting that fruits with an inappropriate appearance most likely have been lying around for a long time and are not fresh.
It is better to buy fruits in markets, where they appear fresh every day. It is advisable to store it in the refrigerator; peeled herring should be eaten immediately.
How do you clean and eat herring?
Most often, this fruit is eaten raw, and this is especially true for tourists who come to enjoy the exotic. Cleaning it is not difficult, you just need to remove its snake skin to get to the dense translucent pulp. The peel is removed with a knife, or you can simply squeeze the fruit out of the skin. Someone tears the edge of the skin and then peels it off, much like peeling a boiled egg. They don't eat the bones.
Not everyone is in a hurry to eat herring raw; this fruit is also actively used in local cooking. If you still decide to eat it in its usual form, it is worth noting that few people can eat more than 1-3 pieces, so there is no need to buy it in kilograms. The human body receives maximum benefits for the body and the largest amount of nutrients when eating raw fruit.
There is a local recipe for pickling unripe herring, and from ripe fruits, local residents make compote with sugar, which, by the way, is often sold in markets and you can try it, it quenches your thirst quite well.
There are also dishes with this fruit in local cuisine, mainly light salads; several sauces of local cuisine are also prepared from it. All this can be tried in cafes and restaurants of Thai cuisine, where guests are always welcome. Smoothies, light drinks and breakfasts are also prepared with the fruit, which can also be found in cafes, and even from shopkeepers at the market. It is not difficult to get acquainted with the flavor combinations generated by this fruit in Southeast Asia.
Salak is a delicious and beautiful exotic fruit with an indescribable taste and aroma that is definitely worth trying at least once. It actually does not threaten any harmful effects on the body, but it has a healing effect.
Salak is also called “Salakka” (in Latin Salacca zalacca, in English Salak) is a fast-growing palm tree in the tropics, which consists of many trunks with pinnate leaves, which have the appearance of petioles and axes covered with thorns. The palm tree itself is short in stature. Its fruits are fruits in the form of clusters of red-brown color, the growth of which occurs at the very base of the trunk just above the level of the ground.
Prickly herring tree, how it grows
The name of this fruit comes from its external appearance, which is represented by scaly, prickly and rough outgrowths, reminiscent of snake skin in shape. And the shape of the fruit itself looks like small bulbs. The pulp in the main composition of the fruit is presented in the form of a beige-yellow sweet mass, specific in taste and with an aromatic pleasant smell, which is somewhat reminiscent of strawberry.
The birthplace of this sweet is considered to be South-East Asia: Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia. In other countries, herring is less common. It was also noted that one can obtain the most delicious varieties of this fruit by obtaining fruits that were grown in Java near Yogyakarta, as well as in Bali.
How to eat snake fruit - crayfish or herring
Rakam, photo site
Just so you know, another fruit, very similar to herring, called “rakam,” is also cultivated. The two fruits are very similar, and many believe that rakam is simply the Thai name for herring. Rakam, unlike herring, is red in color, and its taste is more concentrated, so it is better to buy more elongated fruits.
Due to the peculiarity of the growth of this fruit at the base of the palm tree and the presence of many small spines, its cleaning requires certain preparation. Otherwise, during the cleaning process, you may encounter multiple small wounds on your hands in the process of pricking them on needles.
Cleaned crayfish, photo website
But there is nothing to be afraid of, just gently press your finger (nail) on the snake skin of the fruit to tear it (it is better to do this from the top, there is emptiness there). Then continue to peel off the skin; it comes away from the flesh perfectly. Before eating the pulp, be careful - there is a large brown and hard bone that you should not try to eat. I usually bit the herring in half, then took out the bone and put the whole thing in my mouth. By the way, sometimes we came across slices without a bone.
Peeled crayfish, bone, photo site
The taste of Salacca depends largely on the variety of the chosen plant. Moreover, some of them have a sweet and sour taste, reminiscent of the taste of a nut. Others claim a cherry aftertaste, as well as sensations reminiscent of strawberries or gooseberries. Others have also noticed varieties with banana and pineapple flavors. There are also varieties of fruits that emit an aroma reminiscent of valerian, as well as corvalol, which is similar in taste.
If the fruit was picked in the early stages of its growth in an unripe form, then it is characterized by a bitter and sour aftertaste, which together depends on the selected plant variety. It is worth noting that the variety of herring affects not only the taste sensations, but also its external shape. As a result, the shape of the fruit can vary from round to almond-shaped. However, all fruits, regardless of grade, have the same brown color. The pulp of the fruit is represented by one or several segments with different intensities of coloring close to beige, which also depends on the varieties of fruit used.
Interesting facts about the Asian fruit salak
The name of such a fruit was formed on the basis of its appearance, reminiscent of snake scales, which, translated from English, became known as “snake fruit”. It is worth noting that herring managed to enter the top of the most delicious and widespread exotic fruits in Southeast Asia. It itself has an astringent taste. In addition, herring has a specific taste, which made it possible for some to make it the most delicious of all existing fruits, and for others, it was presented in the form of a fruit with a strange taste, which one way or another is worth trying at least once to be able to get to know it.
I really liked the snake fruit, but you can’t eat a lot, because then it starts to sting a little in your mouth, like after eating pineapple.
Composition of salak
Calorie content of herring is about 82 kcal. Its composition is represented by the following components:
- proteins – 0.2 g
- fats – 0.4 g
- carbohydrates – 21.3 g
Salak
The herring itself contains tannin, which acts as a means of promoting the removal of toxic and other harmful substances from the body, and it is also capable of providing an astringent, hemostatic effect, in addition to having antidiarrheal and antihemorrhoidal properties. Also, the use of such fruit has a beneficial effect on the formation and improvement of immunity.
Herring should be consumed raw, but it can also be used boiled or dried. Due to their inherent sour and astringent taste, unripe fruits are best kept in a marinade. Due to the fact that the fruits of such a plant do not have a high calorie content, their consumption is not limited to their quantity. And thanks to its special properties, it is perfect for consumption as a daily dessert, as well as in between main meals. This allows you to use it to satisfy the feeling of hunger and at the same time cleanse your body.
Harm
Moreover, during all periods of consumption of this fruit, no cases of negative effects on the body were identified. But like any other fruit, it is not recommended to eat it in very large quantities, everything should be in moderation.
Salak is an exotic fruit. Its fruits are brown or red-brown in color, and their surface looks like snake skin. Therefore, they are otherwise called snake fruits. They grow on palm trees, so this plant can be classified as a member of the palm family. The height of herring palms does not exceed two meters. The peculiarity of these trees is that they have feathery leaves, the upper surface of which is dark green and the lower surface is light. Salak grows in clusters, starting at the base of the trunk, close to the ground and throughout the tree.
Externally, the fruits resemble bulbs, covered with scales and rough to the touch. The fruit is covered with small spines, making it often difficult to peel. The pulp has a beige-yellow color, a sweet taste and an aromatic odor. Salak grows in Southeast Asia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. It comes in two varieties: crayfish, with a characteristic reddish color and oblong fruits, the pulp of crayfish is watery, fibrous (grows in Thailand) and herring, the fruits of which resemble an onion, and inside there are juicy crispy slices.
How to choose the right one
When choosing a product, you should give preference to round and larger fruits. According to taste, it is better to choose brown fruits. The smaller they are, the more sour. And the pinkish-purple color indicates that the fruit is very sour. You need to choose the darkest fruits. They are more aromatic and sweeter than others. Salak should be hard, since softness is an indication that the fruit is overripe or has already begun to deteriorate. Salak comes in different flavors, depending on where it grows. Thai - sour. Indonesian and Malaysian smells like peach and tastes like pineapples and bananas.
Calorie content
The calorie content of herring, depending on the variety, ranges from approximately 50 to 80 kcal.
Nutritional value per 100 grams
Depending on the variety, herring contains from 0 to 0.2 g of protein, from 0 to 0.4 g of fat and up to 12 g of carbohydrates. The fruits are rich in iron, calcium, phosphorus, vitamins B1, C, A.
Useful properties of herring
The fruits of herring are useful for strengthening the body, cleansing it of toxins, and improving general condition. The product is used in dietary nutrition, especially in combination with carrot juice.
Salak is especially useful for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. It is used to treat diseases such as diarrhea, constipation, heartburn, and hemorrhoids. This fruit has a positive effect on the brain and its function, on vision (for the treatment of night blindness). Thanks to the tonin contained in herring fruits, they have hemostatic properties.
Salak is actively used by local residents of Southeast Asia in the preparation of various dishes. Unripe fruits are pickled. Jam is made from fruits. It is preserved by mixing with a large amount of sugar, compotes, salads are prepared, and canned.
There are a lot of exotic fruits among tropical fruits, and herring is an excellent confirmation of this. These are small fruits of brown or red-brown color with an unusual skin that looks like the skin of a snake. Therefore, herring received a second name, which has become very common - snake fruit.
Salak is unusual not only for its snake skin, but also because it grows not on trees or shrubs, but on palm trees. This fruit even belongs to the Palm family. From the same family we know coconut and date palms. Salak palms only grow up to two meters in height, which means they are quite small compared to the tall coconut palms. Their leaves are pinnate, with the upper side being green and the lower side being light. Herring palms are dioecious, which means that the same palm has both male and female flowers, so they do not require additional pollination. Herring fruits grow in clusters at the very base of the palm tree trunk, above the ground.
Now more about the fruits. Salak has a pear-shaped or oval shape, very often in the form of a drop. The skin is easy to clean, the main thing is to pick it up, and this is not so easy to do. While Malayan and Indonesian herring have a smooth skin, Thai herring is full of small needles, so your hands can get quite scratched later. Under the skin of the herring lies beige flesh, consisting of two and sometimes three segments, inside each of which there is one dark bone that is easily separated from the pulp.
The taste of herring can be very different. In Thailand, this fruit is too sour and tastes like sea buckthorn. In Indonesia and Malaysia, herring is different. There it has the aroma of peach, and in the taste, in addition to peach, there are pineapple flavors, bananas and something unusual, sometimes even nutty.
Mainly herring grows in the countries of Southeast Asia. Primarily these are Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. This fruit is also found in other tropical countries, but in much smaller quantities.
How to choose herring
Choosing herring is very easy. It is not one of those fruits that is too fussy and difficult to choose of good quality. In general, you can safely buy any fruit and not go wrong. If you want to buy the sweetest herring, then you need to choose the darkest fruits and those that have the strongest aroma. They will be the sweetest. And, of course, you should pay attention to ensure that the herring is not soft. Fresh herring always has a firm consistency. Softness indicates that the fruit has begun to become overripe and spoil.
How to eat herring
There is only one way to eat herring. This is to peel it and eat the slices by simply biting them off. It is impossible to cut this fruit due to the large seeds contained in each slice. The easiest way to peel the herring is to press two fingers into the center of the fruit, after which it will open in half.
In some tropical countries, already cleaned herring is sold. This is very convenient because your hands will not have to suffer from the rough skin of the snake fruit.
Beneficial features
All fruits are very healthy, and herring is no exception. It removes toxins from the body well, cleanses it, improves immunity, has hemostatic, antidiarrheal and antihemorrhoidal properties. It is a low-calorie fruit, so it can be eaten in any quantity. Although, due to its exotic nature, it is unlikely that anyone will eat too much of it. Salak is good as a dessert, a snack, and not as a main dish.
How to grow herring
Like many other tropical fruits, it is quite possible to grow herring at home from a seed. To do this, you will need the freshest seeds possible, from a recently eaten fruit, preferably the ripest one.
The herring palm begins to bloom approximately four to five years after planting, and within six months the fruits ripen on it. Of course, grown at home, they will not be as tasty as herring fruits from Indonesia, but the plant will delight you with its appearance and remind you of sunny tropical days.
Salak – greetings from the warm land of smiles.
Salak is a delicious and nutritious exotic fruit that grows and ripens in Thailand. When peeled, it resembles garlic, but the taste of the fruit is not at all garlicky. It is sour-sweet, to some it resembles nuts and strawberries, while there are those who smell cotton candy and even expensive perfume in them. When it is allowed to eat herring, how to clean it, and for whom the fruit may be hazardous to health - read our material.
Thailand is a true paradise for everyone who appreciates and loves the exotic, dreams of touching the unusual Asian culture and, of course, enjoying the fruits growing in this warm country. Thai herring is a fruit (le kham) unusual both in appearance and in taste. The fruits are called snake fruits, although reptiles have nothing to do with it: the herring simply looks like a large nut, covered with a skin similar to the skin of a snake. It is enough to remove it with a knife and you will find juicy, aromatic pulp inside, spreading in your mouth with exciting aromas. In common parlance, Thais call the fruit “ra-kum,” or crayfish, and both adults and children love it.
Snake fruit grows not only in Thailand - thickets of rakum palms are found in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bali, and the island of Java. It is curious that it is the Javanese variety of fruit that is considered the most delicious by gourmets. In general, these palm trees love warm subtropical and tropical climates and, if Russian agronomists had the desire, the trees could be cultivated and bear fruit in Sochi or Abkhazia.
Palm trees with herring are not large; they do not grow higher than 2 meters. The trunk is covered with thorns and small nodules called thorns. This protective form repels wild animals from the trees, which simply do not have the physical ability to get to the fruits and eat them during the ripening season.
The crown of these palm trees looks interesting: it is quite lush, growing up to 8 meters in radius, with a cap of leaves resembling the feathers of a large bird “crowded” at the top. Exotic rakums with a diameter of up to 5 cm are collected in clusters from above and ripen. The weight of the largest fruit barely exceeds 100 g.
As already mentioned, all nuts are covered with a snake-like skin that is soft and pleasant to the touch. It is quickly peeled off, revealing pale grayish-white pulp, divided into small slices (to Russians the fruit will definitely remind you of garlic). Inside each piece of herring there is a large brown bone. It is not eaten.
Herring season in Thailand
In warm Thailand and other tropical countries, the herring season begins in May, when the first harvest of fruits is harvested.It lasts until the end of summer, but the most delicious fruits are those collected in June - in a month they manage to be saturated with the rays of the Thai sun, gain juiciness, and acquire a special, incomparable taste. June has the lowest price per kilogram of fruit. In Russian money, the cost is comparable to pineapples and is approximately 170 rubles per kilogram; in winter they cost 1.5-2 times more.
Snake Fruit Flavor
It is almost impossible to describe the taste of the fruit; it is unique and evokes a variety of associations among tourists. Some say that the taste resembles a mixture with. There are those who feel the mixture of pineapple with. Some people compare crayfish to cotton candy and nuts. There is an interesting point of view: they say that the fruit has a perfumey aftertaste, as if an expensive extract of elite perfumes had been poured inside the fruit. Gourmets agree on one thing: there are no analogues to herring in Russia, and you should definitely try it at least once in your life.
Unripe fruits collected at the beginning of the season are a little chewy in the mouth - herring contains tannins, so it is better to buy a few to try in June or July, and only then eat them in larger quantities.
Beneficial features
Thailand has a whole industry for the production of medicines from products of plant and animal origin. In this country, people know everything about what their country is rich in and use any gifts of nature to improve their health. Snake fruit is no exception. These fruits have dozens of beneficial properties that make sense to remember.
What abilities are crayfish fruits famous for:
- stop bleeding: for this purpose, fruits are given to the wounded who are bleeding; reduce pain during painful menstruation;
- relieve nervousness, the feeling of “hot flashes” during menopause;
- stop diarrhea, relieve increased gas formation in the intestines;
- remove pathogenic bacteria, toxins, and waste from the intestines;
- the property of accelerating metabolic processes, promoting weight loss;
- relieve inflammatory processes at the initial stage of acute respiratory viral infections and acute respiratory infections;
- prevent the appearance of benign and malignant tumors - the fruit is considered a powerful natural preventative against cancer.
Soft fruit pulp envelops the stomach, relieving acute pain due to gastritis. Thai healers attribute to herring the ability to improve vision and prevent the onset of senile cataracts and glaucoma. To do this, the fruits are infused in water, and patients are given strong decoctions, which it is important to drink in courses of 10 to 21 days.
Due to its low glycemic index and calorie content of 50-80 kcal per 100 g, herring is allowed for diabetes (but only at the initial stage!)
You can eat it on a diet without fear of gaining extra centimeters on your waist. Herring also contains a record amount of vitamin A (retinol) - in terms of the amount of microelement it surpasses even the world-famous source of retinol.
Harm of herring
Speaking of harm, I would like to reinterpret the well-known saying: what is good for a Thai is death for a Russian. Since the fruits are still exotic for Russian people, it is not worth eating kilograms of them. Especially when meeting for the first time, when the body is just adapting to new conditions.
The rules of habituation look like this:
- The first time you can try just one herring nut to make sure there is no allergic reaction.
- You should not buy large quantities of fruits: they can cause constipation (especially against the backdrop of the general adaptation of the digestive system to unusual foods).
- In unripe fruits, the effect of tannins is felt much more. Fruits are especially strong if eaten together with any dairy products.
- You can only eat washed and then peeled fruits. Otherwise, you risk introducing bacteria of Thai origin and even eggs of local helminths.
Giving them to children under 5 years of age is dangerous - the young body is capable of producing an unpredictable reaction to the fruit. Adults, subject to the above rules, can safely feast on ripe fruits either separately or together. The pleasure from ripe crayfish is incomparable to anything, like the whole holiday in this smiling and warm country.
How to choose the right one
Choosing ripe herring is a simple matter. The first thing you should pay attention to is the size of the “nuts”. Large round fruits are considered the most delicious. They should not be wrinkled, crushed or cracked. The sides should please the eye with a healthy glossy shine, like a snake skin shimmering in the sun.
Fruits have a short shelf life, so the best way to protect yourself from spoiled fruit is to buy them only in season from May to August. In winter they are expensive and certainly not fresh: it is easier to try the product in the form of fruit chips or sauces. Don’t forget: peeled fruits are not stored; it is important to buy them only in the branded “snake” peel.
How to clean and eat herring
The skin of the herring is dense; it is a kind of shell that protects the delicate contents of the nuts. They remove it like shells from boiled eggs, helping themselves with a sharp knife.
Experienced “salak-eaters” do this:
- Take a sharp small knife and a thick waffle towel.
- Hold the fruit on a towel so that it does not slip.
- Peel the skin with a knife and cut off the tip of the nut located at the base.
- Peel the skin layer by layer, carefully releasing the slices.
- The fruits are divided into separate segments.
- They eat by spitting out brown kernels.
The most delicious fruit is raw. Thais add it to local cuisine: they cut it into fruit salads, dry it in the form of crackers, make marmalades and jams, cook compotes and decoctions. Local sauces for fish are made from the fruits, and there is a recipe for pickling unripe fruits - the result is a spicy, very spicy appetizer, specific and unusual.
Salak perfectly quenches thirst - 1-3 pieces are suitable instead of lemonade on a hot Thai day. If you are on vacation in Asia, eat a little fruit, not forgetting about the rules of personal hygiene. Then herring will bring pure pleasure and will become part of the overall holiday experience. And remember that the Thai authorities do not welcome the export of certain fruits from the country. Enjoy the moment on the spot.