Rambutan: The Hedgehog of Fruits

Mangosteens are well-known as “the queen of fruits,” and durian claims the moniker “king of fruits,” but what of the rambutan? Surely the rambutan deserves a catchy nickname as well? You may have seen the notorious photo of me climbing the rambutan tree?

The rambutan is a delicious fruit, ubiquitous at this time of year, and I hereby christen it “the hedgehog of fruits.”

The rambutan bears a striking resemblance to a hedgehog, if only a hedgehog were red, and curled up in my hand. Alternatively, we could call the hedgehog “the rambutan of mammals.” People sometimes ask me, “Micah, how do you obtain the fruit from a rambutan without hurting yourself or the people around you?” Note the spines protruding from the rambutan I cradle gently in my hand above. Obviously, one must be careful when dealing with tropical fruit (as I have already mentioned about durian, for example).

Safe and responsible consumption of the rambutan requires us to remove the skin and the spines, and then to eat the sweet, fleshy fruit on the inside. With a few well-coordinated movements of my thumbs, I am able to remove the skin of the rambutan and its pernicious spines.

It seems a pity I cannot bring more fruit on my travels; when I am at Thailand I eat so much fruit. I was at Hong Kong airport on Tuesday evening (see below), and as soon as I got back to Thailand I returned to the Sam Khok Diet and the rambutans shown above.