I have a friend from Sabah who used to tell me about the strange and wonderful fruits and foods they get in Sabah. One such fruit he never failed to talk about was Buah Tarap (Tarap fruit). One day, my sibling returned from Sabah with such a fruit as a souvenir of his trip and I cheerfully dug in!
This is a picture of the Tarap fruit that is opened. From the outside, it looks like a Nangka (jackfruit) or Chempedak with the skin covered with soft pliable thorn-like, spines. When ripe, the outer skin is soft and easily pulled apart to reveal the edible fruit inside.
The fruit comes in seeds like that of a jackfruit. Each seed has a layer of flesh covering it. The texture of the flesh is soft and tastes a little like a soursop – sourish and sweet at the same time. I can’t quite describe the taste, but it is very unique indeed.
If ever you go to Borneo, specifically to Sabah where this fruit is found in abundance, make sure you try it if only to say that you have sampled Buah Tarap!
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From that picture, the fruits look like onion. I hope the taste won’t taste sour..
I have just been in Borneo and I so wish this fruit was grown in Australia! It tasts like banana custard with a bit of caramel. Just delicious. I could not detect any sourness at all.
wow, paris… it looks rather exotic eh! Never tried this buah tarap before but would definitely love to… Just out of curiosity, of course. Haha. :p
oOFoooi: It wasn’t sour but sourish sweet. Imagine a soursop and its about that sort of taste.
twosuperheroes: It is terribly exotic eh? But if you are ever in Borneo make sure you try! Just to satisfy your curiousity
Does it look at all like soursop? But I must say, I have never heard of this fruit before. Good to have it on your blog here
Pablo: It doesn’t look like a soursop. There are these thornlike spines all over as you can imagine from the cross section of the skin. See if they have it in Sarawak!
I thought it was nangka or cempedak by just looking at ur picture~~
just for info, this fruit is not only available in Sabah but also common in Sarawak and Kalimantan, indonesia.
FYI, i’ve always thought buah tarap was only found in Brunei since it’s one of our local fruits as well. I was led to believe that malaysians didnt know how to eat tarap, thinking it was just a type of forest fruit eaten by birds or something. But now i know better. this is one of Brunei’s favourite local fruits. We also mix the sweet flesh wt seeds in batter and then deep fry them to make Cucur Tarap (Tarap Fritters). The seeds can be washed, dried and then roasted to be eaten as nuts.
An exotic fruit found only on the Island of Borneo and Mindanao. Sweet and fragrant when ripe but does not travel well. Ripens rapidly when covered in newspaper or paper boxes for transport and the pulp turns black and sour. That may be the reason why there has never been an attempt for export. Singaporeans, Peninsular Malaysian and others are puzzled when told of this fruit. Come visit Borneo to sample this wondrous fruit. Fruiting season August to December. When in Borneo, don’t miss also the colored durians in orange, red and yellow.
J’ai effectué un voyage au Sabah où j’ai fait l’ascension du kinabalu en novembre 2009; au bord de la route j’ai vu ce fruit que j’ai goûté et aimé.
J’ai rapporté des graines à l’île de La Réunion où j’habite et les ai semées;
Elles ont toutes poussé ,je vais les mettre en terre bientôt et j’espère avoir des fruits dans un avenir pas trop lointain.
à mon avis ce fruitier doit pousser sous tout climat tropical et sub tropical;
merci pour les renseignements sur ce fruit que les autochtones appelaient Parap;
Jack