It is duhat season in a big, big way around our home in Batangas. For some reason, there are years when duhat trees bear a minimal amount of fruit, and then there are years when they are just heavily laden with thousands and thousands of fruit. I am not sure if it 
has to do with the weather, the pollination aided by the wind or bees, the moon or tides but the erratic or seemingly unpredictable duhat season is part of what makes this fruit so memorable. I have written about duhat before, so please re-visit that link if you want the scientific names and other bits of duhat trivia. But this weekend we are at the beach and while the duhat season has been at its peak for the past 2-3 weeks, some of the trees around us are still loaded with an incredible amount of fruit…
Duhat or Lomboy, as it is referred to in parts of the Visayas, and definitely in Cebu, has the odd mixture of dry mouthfeel and sweetness. The Kid has some friends 
over with her this weekend, and two of them had NEVER tried duhat before. Their initial reaction to tasting the fruit for the first time ever? “It feels like the fruit sucked all the moisture out of my mouth…†or “It feels weird.†This is definitely the “aphud†effect or what I can only best describe as being somewhat astringent, though not necessarily in a facial astringent kind of way. Some folks never get over this weird effect and don’t fancy this fruit at all. I happen to have very fond childhood memories of duhat and so I kind of look for the aphud effect in a bizarre kind of way.
The last time I brought duhat up in a post, some of the readers suggested that instead of eating it with rock salt (the only way I have eaten it so far), I should 
try eating it after tossing it with some sugar. Intrigued by this suggestion, I tried both concoctions this morning and conducted a taste test. First, I crossed the street to a tree with tons of “low-hanging fruit†so I had to exert nearly zero calorie effort to get a bowl of plump, totally ripe fruit. I collected it in a single layer on a flat dish, not a plastic bag that has a tendency to smush the fruit together and bruise it. Back home, a gentle rinse in several changes of cool water and a 30 minute “nap†in the fridge meant the fruit were clean and cool, exactly the way I like them (too long in the fridge and they are too cold)…
Next, I placed a single serving (say 20-25 fruit) in a shallow glass bowl, sprinkled the fruit with either sugar or rock salt and covered the fruit with another glass bowl and gently tossed the fruit. A few minutes for the salt and sugar to work their magic and a rapid succession of duhat popping into my mouth and I was completely stumped! Did I prefer 
the salty mixture that I had grown up with all my life? Or was this sweetish aphud feel of the new concoction going to win me over. Oddly, I liked both versions equally. I couldn’t pick one over the other. So I decided on this. In the mornings, I would eat the duhat/sugar mixture. It seemed gentler, calmer and less jarring. But in the afternoons, the salty version was more appropriate… heehee. I know, this will sound mental to the casual visitor to marketmanila.com… but unless you do as I have just done and make up your own minds, you will just have to take my comments as the gospel on duhat enjoyment… If only you could drop by our home right now, there are hundreds of kilos of fruit still in the trees. The areas around the trees are already filled with rotting and fermenting fruit and it smells a bit like a winery at the moment… ahhh, it’s duhat season in a big way…
31 Responses
Lomboy!!! I definitely love this fruit. My grandpa had this in his farm and they were of the humongous variety, kind of like the “bangkok” santol as opposed to the regular ones… Never had to choose between sugar and salt, though; I love them as is. As for chilling, that sounds good!
My kids and I were just having this treat earlier today at my parents’ house. There’s a big duhat tree with plenty of fruit. I’ve never tried it with sugar before. I think I’ll do that.
I vaguely recall having tasted duhat as a child, thinking it was the local (and mediocre) version of the grape. I believe the ‘aphud’ effect can be attributed to the tannins which are most probably of higher concentration in the thick duhat skin than in grapes. Tannin has a dry, astringent, bitter effect on the mouth which anyone who has tasted grapes with skin on or dry red wine is familiar with.
Hi Marketman, where in Batangas is your home? I’m from Batangas myself, Lipa in particular but been living overseas for about 12 years now. If ever you’re in Lipa try our version of goto made from beef offal. High in cholesterol they say but surely something I look forward to eating again when I go back home.
duhat juice production ;-)
PAHINGIIII! My grandparents’ home used to have a big duhat tree in the yard. My grandpa would tie a big kulambo under the tree where the fruits would drop after having somebody shake the tree from above. That was the only way I know to get duhat. Since my grandpa died, I have never had duhat anywhere else. I still crave for duhat, partly to remember my grandpa by. The duhat in the pics sure look good!
i hardly see any duhat for sale here in davao, so when i saw some at the sidcor weekend market sometime last month, i bought a kilo to take home to my sons who had eaten them only once before in bohol. they cost P60 a kilo then. today’s kids don’t seem to know and appreciate these “old” fruits like duhat, camachile,etc.
waaah, this is torture! who knows when I’ll be able to taste duhat again????
MM,can you send some over?
i agree bijin.
MM, next time, try tossing the duhat with both sugar and salt. It’s strangely complementary, like sugar and soy sauce with green mango :)
yes, try with both sugar and salt. Really good. Same as what we do with calumpit. Parang champoy effect.
I’m very much interested about the amount of anti oxidants duhat (or any other local fruit for that matter) would contain. I only ever see imported fruits and vegetables in that ranking, and I’d bet duhat would be up in that list.
I like them a lot especially the plump, juicy and sweet ones – they are so friendly – they tell you when they are ready for picking – their color change from light pink to deep purple and when you savor them they leave your whole mouth tinted with their color. One of the fruits where the stain is hard to get rid off!
Mouth-watering!!!!. i guess i can only wish i can get my hands on them, but not! Duhat has been a part of my childhood for sure and it’s sad that i cannot even time my vacation back home when it’s in season…
but one think i remember, i like them a bit cold, we would wash them first, put them in a container and leave it in the fridge for a few hrs, and eat them with salt! i like it how it makes my lips and tongue purple! ehehhe
just had a full bowl of duhat last week! all i can say is wow…after so many years, i finally had a chomp of one of my favorite fruits out there hehe. sarap talaga…luck me
ooohhh, fond childhood memories! as little kids we’d climb mang andoy’s aratiles tree next door to get to the duhat tree. armed with mom’s green tupperware container we’d smuggle enough to feed our little army. then when asked whether we took some of his duhat, no matter how much we try to look innocent amidst the accusations, the purplish tinge in our lips and milk teeth betrays us all. :-)
Duhat trees always bear in abundance, and don’t we all notice the kilos of unnoticed rotting fruit on the ground. Another way I’ve known to eat duhat was to eat it dried, a la prune or raisin. In a bilao, I spread it out in the sun for a week or so. I try to get it at the right time (by sampling it daily -not a difficult chore!) so that it is not completely dried out. I and my kids love it this way too.
I thought I had missed the duhat season! I’ve been scouring the markets but they keep telling me that it was a short season and they aren’t selling anymore! But in Dumaguete they were selling them. And now I read there are supplies in Batangas! Oh my! Be still my beating heart. Summer doesn’t seem right without at least one duhat (with salt) eating session.
how about the seeds? Im just throwing it away after munching its juicy and mmmm sweet flesh…
hello sa inyo can you help me i have thesis kase about duhat bark can you tell me where i can get more information about duihat bark?
Yay duhat! I presently live in a village in Makati and the house across our house has a duhat tree. Lucky for me that the tree was growing in such a way that it spills out over their concrete wall. It was duhat heaven I’m telling you, and the expats who live there did’nt even know or cared what it was! Again, lucky for me. I sent my maid to pick some for me, lightly tossed it with some rock salt, and voila! Childhood memories and flashbacks galore! I will definitely try it with sugar next time duhat season comes around.
naraman ti duhat wine….
uray sino, mamasan na ti uminum
datoy nga wine no maramanan na…
makabartek no masubraan
ti uminum…
nagimas nga talaga ti
duhat wine……
muaaahhhhh…..
GAWANG PINOY, BE PROUD
As a child, my brother and I impatiently waited for the duhat season where we lived in Antipolo. We had a large, mature tree that produced an enormous amount of fruit. Our neighborhood friends would come over and the duhats were usually picked clean within a few days. We ate them as is.
Tomorrow I am planting a duhat tree that I grew from seed. I have waited three years to put it in the ground but I don’t know if it will make it in Florida.
Does anyone know how long it will take for the tree to bare fruit? It is in a 3 galllon pot and is about 2 meters. My climate zone is 9B with wet summers and dry winters. Any suggestions for care?
Thanks
Kinda amusing…my Family Name is LOMBOY(duhat) in tagalog. May I ask where Lomboy came from? I heard that it is partly came from Spain, do you have any idea? Thank you…nice blog! Hav a good day!
Lomboy the fruit did not come from Spain. Read the link in the post above to an earlier post on the background of duhat or lomboy.
i love LOMBOY too! :)
Hi, I live in England. In my backyard garden is somewhat like a duhat tree. I don’t know if it can survive in this climate but because it’s nearly end of summer here at the momment (the time the tree normally bear fruit). I miss duhat and I wish I can say it is one. But I’m afraid to try it if it isn’t.
Melissa, I would have thought this is a more tropical type of tree, and probably unlikely to survive a cold winter, but I could be wrong…
Just thinking about lomboy today as I really miss them. Never seem lucky to visit Philippines during it’s short fruit season. Lucky to enjoy our summer fruits time and again but not the lomboy. Haven’t you noticed on the comments above ….. everybody seems to remember childhood memories of climbing the lomboy tree. Seems the generation of children now are more interested on TV games than the fun of climbing trees and mucking around on open fields. Not much of open fields nowadays but indeed it was much greater fun in the summer to play and muck around, climb trees, get dusty and sweaty … all the works of summer fun!
guyz.!tell me posibli buh na and extract ng lomboy ay pwedi maging ink ?