Fruit Season in Limbang

its a common sight here for the past few weeks, and many more weeks to come, to see bags of tropical fruits everywhere.. i had different bags of fruits in my clinic everyday (rambutan, langsat, membangan/ canon ball?, dabai, even durian!), at my relatives house and even at home.

rambutan and dabai.. dabai or as the Foochows call 'kanan' is a kind of local black olive which u need to soak in hot water to cook, and add black sauce, sugar etc.. as however you like it.. you can even cook it as a dish or with rice as dabai fried rice!

this is one fruit i've Never seen before and its everywhere here in Limbang (4 for only rm1.50 or rm2!) .. locally called Membangan or something like that.. it has an Iban name as well which i forgot .. looks something like a cannon ball although the flesh is like a very fibrous mango.. the skin is brown and tough and u peel it like a pamelo (apparently the locals even cook the skin) its abit like a mango or kuini.. but has an odd aftertaste.. and definitely helps constipation has it has a Very high fibre content!

durian here there everywhere! had up to 4 rounds of durian with different people in a week! even the doctors here said more patients are coming in for high sugar/heatiness/etc.. due to overdose of durian..

another breed of durian, durian kuning.. a smaller pricklier breed with has only a couple of yellow inti unlike the bigger paler types... the texture and taste is also kinda different.

and this is how the locals enjoy durian (if they have too much maybe) they cook it into congee or porridge like texture like bubur.. and sometimes add green beans etc to complement it.. honestly i prefer durian as its original condition.

some cucurs (deep fried fruit fritters and 'begerdil') we have, with banana and cempedak even.. if you cook cempedak long enough the seeds can be eaten as well.

seems that nearly every fruit i've featured here are not only eaten in its original form but cooked in one way or another.. how creative the locals are! even the skin, seeds or young shoots do not escape the Wok.. except the rambutan of course.. that will be the day when i eat a cooked-form of rambutan.. (as dessert don't count)

on a lighter non-fruit note (yes, fruit becomes the heavier part of meals lately) i had claypot mee, chicken chop and peanut butter cheese toast at Papa Recipe as my first outside meal in Limbang

my friend recommended the Club Sandwich at Nurul cafe (not bad, could be crispier) with many layers.. and i tried the Nasi Katok as well (top left picture) which is famous in Brunei cause its only B$1 there (like our nasi lemak maybe, in top right picture) with rice, cucumber, friend chicken and sambal.

its been a very fruity post- Christmas/ New Year season.. might sound like a good way to diet except that the fruits are mainly Durians and Rambutan (high sugar!) anyway, can't wait for the upcoming Chinese New Year 2012! and out comes the Dragon here there everywhere...