Seek Out New Life Forms - What is a Rambutan?

By Anthony Todd in Food on Nov 19, 2010 8:00PM

One of the joys (and troubles) of having an appreciation for strange foods is that people tend to bring you things without knowing what they are. One of our friends dropped this strange prickly ball in our lap, with the frightening statement, "You like weird stuff, right?" Gosh, what a reputation! The fruit had no information, no sign and no name. It kind of looked like an alien egg, and we had no idea how to go about eating it. Even worse, we didn't know how to identify it, because googling "red spiny fruit" is unproductive - trust us.

Eventually we discovered that this strange beast is a Rambutan, from Southeast Asia. In flavor and taxonomy, the closest relative is the lychee, and like lychees, Rambutans have been popping up in more and more American markets. Unlike our previous entries in this series, Rambutans are fine to eat raw, and they make a great, refreshing snack. In order to eat them, you have to make a very shallow incision, cut all the way around and then peel off the skin. You are left with something that looks and tastes like a peeled grape. Very tasty, very light and not too sweet, the Rambutan is a great way to add a little fun to your fruit eating - or to scare your friends. Be careful - there is a large seed in the middle that you don't want to swallow. They are sometimes identified as a "super-food" along with acai and pomegranate, since they have high concentrations of vitamins A and C; we just eat them because they're yummy.

Recipes for Rambutans are few and far between. The most common recommendation is to use them in a fruit salad, which would be lovely, or to turn them into a jam. We think they would potentially make great smoothies or cocktails, if muddled or juiced - substitute them in any cocktail that uses a sweet, mild fruit. At the very least, you can use them to scare your friends - tell them that the Rambutan is a martian sea urchin, tie a string to it so it skitters, and watch them run away in terror.