Tropical Friday’s…The Korlan Fruit…

 

This tiny little sweet and sour fruit  Sapindaceae is part of the soapberry family which includes lychee, longan and rambutan.

Many are lactiferous, i.e. they contain milky sap, and many contain mildly toxic saponins with soap-like qualities in either the foliage and/or the seeds, or roots.

This tiny little fruit grows wild and is often called the wild lychee the tree it comes from is enormous and the fruit so tiny it also quite rare to find… I came across this fruit quite by chance when I took a ride back from the market in a tuk-tuk.

The tuk-tuk driver had a bag of these in the back and told me to try some which I did ..of course…when I expressed my pleasure he gave me some…Thais are very generous if you try what they offer and you like it you will always be gifted some. He told me that he had a tree in his village which was where he got the fruit from…

When peeled they look like very small lychees  … I have found this fruit locally on markets or often people just sit on the sidewalk with a few fruits and vegetables from their land which they are selling to make a few baht but this is also where you come across unusual fruits and vegetables which are not commercially grown or grown wild.

Found also in Laos and Myanmar it is not grown commercially or generally cultivated so quite a rare fruit…backyard fruit as it can be called…

Korlan… the rare wild fruit juice has a delicious and unique taste of sour and sweet variety with health benefits from vitamins and antioxidants.

It is said to regulate blood sugar and also to improve concentration and stress. Locals say eaten daily or taken as a syrup/extract made from the fruit it gives increased energy and boosts the immune system, therefore, combating flu viruses and colds.

My daughter in law said they were also eaten with dried chilli, fish sauce and lime sauce and they were quite nice this type of dip/sauce is quite commonly eaten with fruits.

It is actually quite nice eaten like this…pictured…

Not that we would eat the stone but it is said that it is probably poisonous…I always err on the safe side with pips and don’t eat them …

Have you come across this fruit?? Do you have any recipes using this fruit?? If so I would love to hear from you in the comments x

Thank you for reading this post I do hope you enjoyed reading about this little known fruit.

I would like to thank everyone who sent their good wishes and healing thoughts for my daughter however after waiting 3 weeks the news was not good…she has an MRI scan booked for next week and based on that they will decide what the course of action is…We are shocked as you can imagine and at the moment unable to travel back to the UK without having to quarantine for 2 weeks Thailand is a red zone for travel to the UK …Carol xx

 

 

 

 

61 thoughts on “Tropical Friday’s…The Korlan Fruit…”

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  3. OIKOS™-Editorial

    Somehow the fruits remind me of gooseberries. Anyway, another interesting fruit. :-)) Hey, you’re tuk-tuk land. 😉 Isn’t it interesting, that in Asia people and goods are transported with such vehicles, with the least environmental impact. You can also easily convert this to the use of electrical energy. With us, individuals drive SUVs weighing almost 2 tons, to get one loaf of bread. ;-( xx Michael

    Liked by 1 person

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Yes, it is the land of Tuk Tuks which I love one of my favourite ways to travel…Michael for one loaf of bread..tut tut to those who do they should making their bread or walking to buy one loaf…Have a great weekend 🙂 x

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  13. Megala

    I always like to take this fruit fresh. Nevertheless I feel it is a wonderful idea to sprinkle some chilli flakes over these fruits as it would definitely enhance the sweet & sour flavor.

    Liked by 2 people

  15. cookwithreena

    Nice post. These are lychees. We get plenty in India in the month of June- July. Very juicy and considered to be a cool fruit. We make, juice, shakes, kheer(sweet dish), jam, jelly, sorbet, ice cream, kulfi etc.etc.etc. there are number of dishes made out of it. But they are best eaten as it is. It is similar to Rambutan of Thailand. They are more fleshy and sweeter than lychees. My fav fruit.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Carol Post author

      Thank you, Reena..These are wild lychees and much smaller than the cultivated ones not so sweet, quite sour. Yes, similar to Rambutan and longan which again similar just much bigger 🙂 x

      Liked by 1 person

      3. cookwithreena

        Soon it may come to our local market . I will make & share wid u. Till that time what is coming to my mind is. Peel the fruit & remove the seed. Chop them. In 250 grams lychees add 1 cup water and cook with a pinch of salt till soft. Then put required amount of white sugar and cook till it thickens and it looks like translucent and shines like white plastic. Add pnich of red chili flakes Remove from heat. Squeeze lemon juice. Cool it in fridge. Ready to serve. (optional, black pepper or roasted cumin powder). Enjoy.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Carol Post author

      Thank you,Paul, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time…I often come across things this way as many fruits and veg are not commercially grown ..Only in someones back garden or a tree in the village like this one … So I may not get any more for a while…if ever 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. PaulAndruss

        It is wonderful discovering a new fruit not commercially available, In Turkey we had Loquats.. ‘reed oranges’ and bit like orange coloured plums (you probably have them there). They make nice jam!

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      2. Carol Post author

        Yes, we do Paul..I quite like them although I haven’t made jam with them…Yet! Fruit and such a huge variety is readily available here…Thais love their fruit 🙂 x

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Carol Post author

      Because they are a lot smaller than the lychee they don’t have the same texture but we can’t like everything can we Robbie? . Thank you for reading and commenting . Have a lovely weekend 🙂 x

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Carol Post author

      They are Lise..not too sweet and quite small so I spent some time shelling and taking the stone out…lol But nice..Not sure when I will get any more as it is the first time I have seen them and was lucky to be given some to bring home 🙂

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      1. jyo

        Yeah these are available in Bangalore market but a bit expensive here. I use to make milkshake, Icecream, mojito, basundi (which is on my blog) and few more recipes with lychee. And rest of the fruits, i eat them fresh😊

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    1. Carol Post author

      Yes at a quick glance but the outer shell is semi hard and you have to peel them to get to the flesh …I hadn’t until the other day Thais don’t like them so much as they think they are too sour but I like sweet and sour fruits rather than just sweet 🙂 Have a lovely weekend Marian 🙂

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    1. Carol Post author

      I was lucky and it was the first I had come across this fruit maybe one day you will although they are normally found in Asia 🙂

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    1. Carol Post author

      A first for me Cindy as well …which is why I love it here I am always coming across little-known fruits and vegetables and I love it!I will now be keeping my eyes and ears open as I travel around to see if I can get more info on them 🙂 Thank you for dropping by 🙂

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