Looking at fruit in the markets in southern China, or growing by the road, you might want to call your local botanist to find out what it is. However, you can always just say – zhè shì shénme? – which means – “What is this?” It doesn't guarantee an answer, as even the locals don't always know the names of local fauna, but it might be a start. Here are a selection of produce I tried for the first time in southern China.

Photo: Upaya

Passion Fruit [百香果 | bǎixiāngguǒ]
This is an amazing fruit. I first tried it on Dashan in Yangshuo, when a lady at the small country restaurant offered us a few. I still can't stop talking about it. The exterior of the fruit is a smooth, almost waxy peel, varying between rose and green. It is the size of a small apple and almost round.

Slice open the fruit lengthwise, and you will see its moist interior, a central bowl which drips with yellow liquid, and contains a flesh somewhere between raw egg and custard. Helping hold it together are sizable black seeds. The main flavor of the baishanguo is sour, strong sour, but there is also some citrus and a little sweet in there. It is stimulating and sparkling on the tongue. You might describe the baishanguo as a sour, yellow, melting pomegranate. I know that doesn't sound terribly appetizing, but trust me it is.

Not everyone knows about this fruit by the way, and it is not offered everywhere. The outdoor market in a little village in Yanghuo didn't have a single one. Our hostel owner there had never heard of it. We fared a little better in Xingping, where two ladies were selling a few on the road, and a restaurant grew several vines. If you want to track this one down, you may have to ask in a few places.

Photo: SuperFantastic

Lotus Heads [莲藕 | lián'ǒu]
I think we'll call this a nut, but don't quote me on that. We got two lotus heads in Xingping for three RMB and then found a tree to sit down under and eat them. The lotus head is cone-shaped and green, and contains fifteen to twenty marble-sized holes with large seeds in them. A stem is usually still protruding from the base. Just pull back the flexible skin of the lotus head, and you can easily pop the seed right out. Peel the thin skin of the seed, and you're ready to go.

Tasting like a soft and meaty nut, but bitter, these make an inexpensive and healthy snack. Actually, almost all of the bitter flavor comes from a narrow green sliver at the center of the nut, and if you eat around this, or surgically remove it, you get rid of the bitter flavor. Supposedly the narrow green part is healthier than the rest, and according to Chinese medicine it is good for a variety of throat ailments. It is, to the best of my discernment, just as bitter as salt is salty, and just as bitter as sugar is sweet.

Photo: goopie.cn

Huangpi [黄皮 | huángpí]
This fruit grows and is sold all over Guangxi. You might even see it growing by the side of the road. It usually gets wrapped up in little bushels when it's sold in the market. The huangpi is about the size of a big marble, and has a slightly rough and muted yellow/green exterior. It is easily confused with longan [see below] but is usually a bit smaller. Peel the thin, papery skin of the huangpi, and eat around its large brown seed. The taste is almost the same as grapefruit.

Photo: ClickE

Chinese Lychee/Longan [荔枝 | lì zhī]
Thankfully, the Chinese pronounce this word nearly the same as we do. The kind of lychee we see more of in the West, is the brown variety, with long coarse hair. This can also be found in China, but the variety I wish to describe is more specific to southern China, and I believe it to be tastier.

Southern Chinese lychees have a bright red color, sometimes cut through with shades of green. It is covered in little blunt points, and once you pop open the skin it peels easily like paper. On first taste, I found this lychee softer, sweeter and juicier than the brown kind I had previously known. Its moist, translucent white flesh is supremely tender.

What can confuse the matter however, is that southern China has another similar fruit, called longan. From the outside, the longan can look a little like the huangpi [see above] with an earthy yellow/green skin and a size slightly smaller than Chinese lychee. It also is tied up in small bundles. Inside however, the soft, succulent meat is nearly the same as the lychee. Some would tell you the longan is not as moist as the lychee, but as long as it is good and fresh, the difference will be slight.

Lychee and longan are fantastic on a hot summer day. It also goes well with a little milk. Don't eat too much of it though, as it might give you a bellyache.

Photo: moriza

Dragon Fruit [火龙果 | hu? long gu?]
The dragon fruit, or hulongguo, is similar to the smaller cactus pear and also grows along the side of cactus. Common to large parts of China and Southeast Asia, it is one of the most visually stimulating fruits that you will encounter at the market. Ranging between six and eight inches long, the main body is a bright pink with several green flaps of skin branching off. Succinctly, I might call it a little purple football, with leafy antennas. (American football that is.) It might also pass for a space ship in a very low-budget sci-fi movie.

The pink skin of the dragon fruit is like hardened wax and is up to half an inch thick. Slice it in half and there is a large, easy to scoop out portion of flesh inside. A larger dragon fruit could make a sizable snack for two. Its flesh is usually white, with tiny black seeds, but a deep scarlet variety exists also, which tastes nearly the same.

It is difficult to describe the flavor of this fruit, as it is usually quite mild. There is a hint of citrus and a hint of sweetness. Otherwise, there are no outstanding flavors. Its insides are meaty and very soft, yet not the same as a melon, as the meat here is slightly porous. Eating the dragon fruit is easy, as though it is moist, it is not sticky or dripping like a mango.

Photo: t-bet

Jackfruit [木波罗 | mù bō luó]
I tried this snack for the first time in Guilin. It is best described as the enormous cousin of the more famous durian. The durian, if you do not know, is the giant fruit covered in spikes with a smell that most westerners find repugnant, but which many Asians love. Where the durian may surpass a foot in size, the buluomi may surpass three feet. Where the durian could smell up the grand hotel, the buluomi could only smell up a small living room. When I first saw the lady chopping this thing up, I thought she was chopping up a hog.

Like the durian, the buluomi's yellow flesh comes in small packets, and can vary between dry and moist, depending on the fruit. The one which I tried was rather dry, slightly chewy, and tasted like a mildly-medicinal artichoke. I have heard it is an acquired taste.

Photo: goosmurf

Mangosteen [山竹果 | shān zhú guǒ]
It's my impression that the mangosteen is one of the most delicious fruits in southern China, if not in the world. In fact it seems a miracle that we are here, that the mangosteen is here, and that we can pick it, peel it, and put it in our mouths. You can find it readily in Guongdong province, as long as the season is right.

The mangosteen is a bit smaller than a tennis ball, and a color that may be black or a very deep purple. A little cap and stem are often still attached to its top. The skin of the mangosteen is quite thick, but once you've gotten inside, you should find a moist, white flesh that looks remarkable like a bulb of garlic.

I can not do the flavor of this fruit justice with mere words, but you will find it sweet and citrusy and much more. It has a richness, strength and depth of flavor that will leave you tantalized every second you are chewing. It is a real sensation. Gulping down its meat, which is both tender and chewy, can even make your eyes squint a little, if not form tears.
 

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