I was recently reviewing a reference guide which had a section on tropical fruits from this part of the world and I was surprised to note that I seemed to have covered many of the fruits in the book. Turns out that Marketmanila has already featured over 50 locally-grown fruits in the past two years!!! Even I was surprised by the number, which represents nearly 6% of all posts, and that excludes posts on imported fruits! But many of these Pinoy or locally grown tropical fruits were featured early in the life of this blog, so I suspect a large percentage of my readers today have never bothered to go back into the archives to read about them. So to help you locate what might be of interest of you, here is the Marketmanila Philippine grown fruit index…enjoy!
My first post ever was on Dalandan, a local citrus fruit excellent in juice. Saba Bananas quickly followed and I have since featured sabas cooked in a variety of ways. The indigenous and rarely heard of outside our shores, Pili fruit was also featured nearly two years ago. Sampalok (tamarind) followed and is the hallmark of several cooked dishes and sweets in the Philippine fruit line-up. Pajo is typically eaten fresh or pickled. Kalamansi (calamondin), Pakwan (red watermelon), Pinya (pineapples) were also early features. Makopa (Curacao Apple) caused a bit of a stir as there are at least 3 types of makopa that differ from each other slightly. Suha (pomelo) is one of my top-10 fruits, period. Yellow watermelons were an interesting and surprisingly sweet find. Duhat received a lot of attention, primarily from overseas Filipinos who seem to recall this fruit with great fondness. Ruby grapefruits are definitely not native, but are now raised in the South. Indian Mangoes bring strong memories of summers spent at the beach, ripe Carabao Mangoes are possibly one of my Top 3 fruits on the planet, and Caimito (star fruit) were perhaps in nearly everyone’s backyard or at least neighborhood. Mangosteen for many is an uncommon luxury, but for me, today, it possesses a complexity of flavor that my adult palate truly appreciates. Camachile was something I never got into, but others enjoy, usually accompanied with childhood memories hanging out on a tree. Kamansi (seeded breadfruit) is really used more as a vegetable, while Singkamas (jicama), which grows underground is eaten more like a fruit. Sineguelas is also one of those fruits that have gotten a tremendous number of hits on this website.
Avocadoes are terrific and everyone seems to have the cold version with milk, sugar, cream, condensed milk, etc. I discovered these superb Sagada Oranges (both navels and valencias) in the Baguio market one summer. While this post on Santol brings back memories of a huge tree we had in our front yard in our Quezon City when I was in diapers… Real Dayap is a national treasure, while Atis requires serious mouth skills to remove the pulp from the apparently poisonous seeds that when dried can kill lice… Rambutans are gorgeous to behold, delicious to taste while Lanzones are another of those fruits that elicited a strong positive reaction from overseas based Pinoys. One of my earliest frequent readers and son of an American diplomat once assigned to Manila asked me to do a post on slicing mangoes that got surprising attention… Mabolo or kamagong is one of those possibly Jurassic jungle fruits native to these parts while Langka (jackfruit) could possible be used as a weapon if catapulted at a dramatic speed. Bayabas (guava) come in several shapes, sizes, colors, etc. but the basic flavor is memorable, and the fruit is terrific fresh or cooked. Papayas (paw-paw) were the ultimate laxative symbol of my parent’s generation and despite saying I would never be caught dead eating them, I now enjoy my solo servings with a touch of kalamansi squeezed on it. Satsuma oranges are now grown in the north, while Tamarillos confounded both my suki vendor and myself as to what it actually was. Ube is really not a fruit, but I like it best as jam so I’ll throw it into this index in case you want to read my entry on it. Chicos (sapodilla) are intense and bold, terrific when served ripe and cold. Chicos were also used by Margarita Fores inventively with prosciutto, in lieu of fresh figs. Green Melons or honey dews made erratic but sometimes acceptable appearances, along with some other Cantaloupes and Golden Honeydews.
A trip to Bicol last year led to the roadside discovery of Lipote, a duhat like fruit, while I ate fresh Pili nutsright from the tree. Kamias is a classic souring agent and omnipresent again in most backyards…as a kid I ate it with lots of rock salt when there was nothing else to munch on. Macapuno fruit was a revelation the first time I cooked with it, but turns out most of Marketmanila’s readers had likewise never seen this fruit despite having eaten it preserved for decades and decades. Kolo (Breadfruit) is synonymous with childhood trips to the Bohol coast where my mother’s childhood home was. Atemoya was something I don’t think I ever ate as a youngster though it is similar to the more common Atis fruit. Durian is a stinker; loved by many reviled by others. I just can’t get over the smell and texture of the pulp. Kalumpit or native cherries of some sort caused the most reader discussion as everyone weighed in with an opinion to really identify what it was…one of my readers sent several emails and I thank her for all that research. Pasionaria (Passionfruit) here is more orange as opposed to the purple/burgundy ones in other countries and has a distinctive flavor. Balimbing is better known as an adjective describing a politician, but it is a stunning geometrically shaped fruit. How can I forget to mention our ever present but often underrated buko, served as is but ice cold? Finally, in the past couple of weeks, I wrote about Rhubarb grown in the Mountain Province and some Apple Mangoes from a Cebu backyard… Phew, that is a lot of FRUIT!!!
40 Responses
Impressive list you got here marketman. It’s like a detailed encyclopedia of locally grown fruits. However I don’t see marang, one of my favorite fruits in my early childhood days in Mindanao. Have you tried one?
mel, I have tasted marang once before. Not a big fan of durian, I wasn’t terribly keen on the marang, if I recall correctly…but maybe that’s just a lack of exposure to it. Thanks for listing that out. In fact, I would appreciate it if readers would point out other fruits they might want to read about so that I can keep my eyes open and expand my list of locally grown fruits to say 70 by the end of the year…
how about adding this on your list : longan, caramay, senorita (small size banana)
saw and bought marang at the big fruitstand at Market!Market! and i didn’t like it too much either… it had no distinguishing taste, just sweet, like water with sugar. Maybe the one we got was just over-ripe.
Hello, MM!
I hope you can do a post on caramay. It’s a fruit which looks like a tiny pumpkin and is very tart.
Bubut, do you have any idea where one can buy caramay? I really miss caramay, haven’t had some in ages.
How about longan(not sure if local trees have finally bear fruits), lychee, pomegranate(granada), tambis and batuan which is more known in the Visayas and a relative of mangosteen?
This post is like an encyclopedia on tropical fruits.Very impressive indeed!
Thanks so much for the compilation of our tropical fruits and their descriptions and usage. That’s a lot of work and research!!! You captured them most on your list. What I can I say – you really put forth a great amount of time in putting this list together. Another excellent job of yours!!!!
Thanks for the info, once i have browsed some of your articles, i did’nt have gone thru some of them that you included to this article. I love siniguelas, one of the rarest tropical fruit (i think), not sure if we can find them in neighboring counries like Thailand and Indonesia.
You could add bignay or bulala (pulasan), tiesa, and if I think of anymore I’ll tell you.
I especially loved your posts on Dalandan, Paho, Sineguelas, Indian mangoes and how to slice mangoes. But it was the post on Santol and how to make santol juice that I followed. Yumyum!
The fruit Jocelyn mentions sounds like what we called Iba in Guam, but I see from your post that Iba is another name for Kamias. My best friends had a tree in their back yard growing up and we used to pick tons of them, soak them in shoyu and lemon or vinegar and eat them that way. They are extremely tart and I can see them being used as a souring agent like Kamias.
We have a fruit we call mansanitas in Floridablanca, Pampanga. I am not sure if i have seen it in other Pampanga towns. It is round, about an inch or two in circumference, light green and slightly tart when unripe, and yellowish when it ripens. When it is overripe, it turns light brown and all wrinkled up whereupon it turns oily. It has a hard pit. An American friend thinks it is related to the crabapple, but i would not know. I haven’t seen a crabapple.
Before my wife (who hails from Iloilo) actually saw one, she thought i was referring to another fruit we call cereza, the ubiquitous small cherry that birds feed on. But it is entirely different from the cereza.
we also had a big tree of “mansanitas” before in Marikina City. our neighbor got a bigger one and we used to hang out there with my childhood friends. the fruit looks like a small green apple, thus the name mansanitas came from, i think. since we call apple “mansanas” in Tagalog, so smaller version is “mansanita”. just like “kutsara” (tablespoon) is to “kutsarita” (teaspoon)
This blog brings back lots of childhood memories. My grandparents used to have most of the fruit trees mentioned above in our backyard (lanzones, cacao, buko, manggang kalabaw, indian manggo, apple mango, santol, star apple, langka, chico, saging, papaya, avocado, makopa, yambo (malay apple), wild cherry, blackberries, duhat, hunggo, siniguelas, sampaloc, bayabas, mabolo, chesa, kamatsile, rambutan, balimbing). Oh well, only the ordinary niyog, rambutans and mango trees are left standing. Tsk, i miss yesteryears.
This site is also where i found the names of the fruits i long for from Albay (Lipote and Littuko). Those were my faves when we used to go to bicol back in the 70’s. Thanks Mr. MM for sharing all these.
Do you have an article for Gooseberry from ilocos?
WilliamD, sorry, I haven’t had a gooseberry from Bicol yet…
durian! our favorite is the JD-69 variety but there are lots: native, arancillo, puyat, chanee
To Roy……..I’m originally from Tarlac, and remember eating mansanitas in my youth. I now live in Utah, USA and I see a lot of crabapple trees here. They do remind me of mansanitas, but they don’t taste as delicious. Kind of bland. In fact, people here don’t usually eat them. I think my American mother- in -law used them as juice.
Celeste there are from my eating experience two types of mansanitas, one is mapakla but divine when ripe the other one is just bland when unripe but passable when ripe. I would gladly throw my grapes away in the fridge in exchange for a mansanitas since even if I’m here in PH I haven’t tasted one in years!
What about some recipes for these fruits, There must be some ethnic recipes in the Philippines in deserts or cakes or other foods, or jut by cooking them alone
Harry, there are over 1,600 posts on this blog, and several of them include tropical fruit recipes from jams, to pies, to trifle like concoctions, etc. Just troll through the archives.
what is the English name for lanzones, atis and guyabano. Appreciate your reply. Thanks.
GALLY 5-24-08
Gally, if you followed the links to the other posts on the fruit above, you would find some of the answers. To my knowledge, there is NO English name for lanzones, which are known as langsat in other parts of Asia. Scientific name is lansium domesticum. An atis is also known as a sugar apple, scientific name annona squamosa and guyabano is also known as a soursop.
where can i find a list of seasonal fruits in the philippines including which months their harvest are bountiful? thank you.
gian, try browsing through or purchasing Doren Fernandez’s book on Philippine Fruit.
Found marketmanila.com website, Truly an amazing array of Filipino products. I worked in Philippines for 8 years and never found food like this. I was really looking to make open topped tropical fruit pies or tarts for freezing. not a lot of information on file in this regards. But thanks for the info I am sure to use this site again Thanks harry
greetings!I’d like to visit your place to buy hunggo plant and other fruit bearing trees.I live in QUEZON cITY.wHERE CAN i FIND YOUR PLACE?
THANKS,
LTCOL MAGUEFLOR
wonderful produce.may i know present location of market manila?i live in Quezon City, metro Manila.
June, this is a food blog, not a store. If you need fruit bearing trees, try the Manila Seedling Bank in Quezon City.
what about marang?
it is found in the southern region..
Are there sellers of marang here in the metro?
at a cheap price?
please include all the translation of all the filipino fruits in english..anyway, your website is great!!^,^
your website is very useful. MM, can you add the seasonality of fruits, vegetables and herbs in Southern Philippines?or throughout Philippines.Thanks! more power!
just want to correct… Singkamas is not jicama as far as i know.. It’s a turnip. Well anyway, nice BLOG!
thanks for the list. I’m still looking for one particular fruit. it’s light green and turns into purple as it ripens, the inside is white with seeds with a slimy texture. i believe i tasted it in ilocos before. if anyone knows let me know. thank you.
Jocelyn, caramay is Phyllanthus acidus which is gooseberry. Its bangkiling in Negros
nice site, does anyone have a crabapple here in the Philippines, i need it for my apple tree to bear fruit, thanks
email me : myaccountunltd@yahoo.com
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS SITE. IT MAKES ME HOMESICK FOR THE PHILIPPINES AND I AM AUSTRALIAN.I LIVED IN THE PHILIPPINES FOR A YEAR AND WILL NEVER CEASE TO LONG FOR MY SECOND HOME.
I WAS ABOUT TO SUGGEST MARANG, MY VERY FAVOURITE FRUIT IN MINDANAO. I SEE THOUGH THAT A COUPLE OF OTHER PEOPLE HAVE MENTIONED IT IN THEIR COMMENTS.MAYBE YOU NEED TO GET IT FROM THE ORIGINAL PLACE IT GROWS TO APPRECIATE IT.
I WAS IN DARWIN AND MET SOME FILIPINAS WHO WERE SELLING FRUIT THERE AND I ASKED THEM ABOUT MARANG. THEY HAD NEVER HEARD OF IT AND HAD NEVER BEEN TO MINDANAO. I ASSURED THEM THAT IT WAS MASARAP. DELICIOSA! THANK YOU AGAIN. I AM SURE THERE MUST BE PLENTY OF FRUITS I HAVE NOT HAD THE PLEASURE OF TASTING AS SOME OF THE NAMES WERE NOT FAMILIAR TO ME, ALTHOUGH SOME OF THEM ARE PROBABLY THE SAME IN DIFFERENT ISLANDS BUT WITH DIFFERENT NAMES ACCORDING TO THE DIALECT.
Hi MM, would you know if there’s a town anywhere in the Philippines that produces local Apples?
Kaimeto or Starapple is not in the list, It comes in evergreen, brown and purple color. Heared about Paling ? it looks like a yellow mangosteen but grows as a vine. It is common in the areas of Mount Malindang range. Also found there are Katagbak, tastes like pineapple but is pulled from grooves of small sagingsaginglike herbs. Makopa has big seeds it turns purple and sweet when ripe. Tambis is a relative to makopa but the seeds are smaller. Here is a list of bananas in the south, Tundan, Sab-a, Tendok, Amorado, Kalunsing, Bendito, Salibagyo, Bulungan, Pinikita, Lakatan, Tudlo-datu,Tinadjao,Senyorita and a lot more varieties.
There is a big Baluno tree in Rizal Park of Dapitan City. I like its fruit very much when eaten sliced. It has a distinct odor, brown, looks like pear and has a big seed. Baluno is rarely found sold in the markets of Dipolog and Dapitan but for those who have not seen it, a visit to Rizal Shrine is worth going.