This is buah salak, scientifically known as salacca zalacca, or snakeskin fruit in English.
Buah salak (snakeskin fruit)
It’s a fruit native to Malaysia and Indonesia, closely resembling the size and shape of a fig…but — as its name suggests — with a skin like that of a snake.
Don’t be scared of its reptile-like outer covering. Just break off the top portion of the fruit and the skin will tear apart quite easily, revealing the garlic-like cloves inside.
Buah salak peeled
And don’t start eating it just yet. You must rub your thumb back and forth over the flesh… so that this thin waxy layer can be peeled off.
A thin but waxy layer
Continue rubbing until you can peel the whole paper-thin layer off. It’s actually edible but it feels weird on the tongue and is better off removed.
Keep on rubbing...
Now, you can take a bite of the sweet, juicy, firm flesh. The texture can range from dry and crumbly (salak pondoh from Yogyakarta) to moist and crunchy (salak Bali). Just watch out for the seed inside — it’s hard as stone.
Watch out for the seed!
The seed looks like a polished chestnut, doesn’t it?
The seed of the buah salak
Almost seems like a shame to throw these beauties away…
Buah salak seeds resembling chestnuts
So the next time you see these bizarre-looking fruits peddled by the roadside, give them a try!
Tags: fruit
November 4th, 2009 at 01:43
Really exotic, I have seen that one before, sa mga imported fruits dito but I have not tried it, but now after seeing the image I guess it it delicious kaya lang ang laki naman ng buto hehehe.
God bless.
November 4th, 2009 at 02:41
i haven’t seen that yet, the skin looks creepy to me. ^-^
but the seeds are beautiful indeed!
November 4th, 2009 at 04:54
We don’t have them here in Pinas, and the fruit looks like durian to me, what’s the taste? Any fruit you can compare it here in Pinas?
November 4th, 2009 at 06:25
interesting-looking fruit! to me, it reminds me of rambutan…i mean the fruit itself. :)
November 4th, 2009 at 15:39
i haave taste this fruits when i was a kid. the color was yellwish instead of reddish.
November 5th, 2009 at 01:40
the fruit feels like…um, garlic when bitten. it’s more ’solid’ than apples and not squishy like rambutan. but i can’t think of any other fruit whose taste resembles the salak.
November 15th, 2009 at 16:02
I tasted salak for the first time when I was in Yogyakarta earlier this year but didn’t quite like the taste. I think it takes some getting used to.
March 18th, 2010 at 03:36
Salak from Bali tastes like a very firm pear-apple. The photos shown are great examples of fresh snake fruit. It’s a bit dry and slightly starchy but I enjoyed it very much. Avoid over-ripe snake fruit. You can tell it’s over-ripe if it’s soft or turning brown.