Rambutan

Ramboutan

What it is

Rambut is Malay for hair, and the name is nothing more than a description of the soft red spines, which are not spines at all but harmless outgrowths of the rind. The flesh does not release its seed the way a lychee’s does — it clings, and the bitter brown seed coat comes away with it if you pull.

In the kitchen

Score the rind right round its middle with a thumbnail and twist — the two halves lift off whole. Then cut the flesh free of the seed with a knife rather than pulling it, or you take the bitter seed coat with it.

Goes with

Coconut milk Lime Lemongrass Ginger Mango Mint Chili pepper Palm sugar

In season alongside

Cévennes sweet onion Chioggia beetroot Prickly pear Green bean Hakurei turnip Kohlrabi

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