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Rambai is botanically related to the various tampoi fruits, which is a common jungle fruit in Malaysia. It looks like a beige, thick-skinned mangosteen and grows in bunches close to the trunk of its rather short tree.
HABITAT
Native to Southeast Asia, especially peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Borneo.
SEASON
Rambai trees usually fruit between May to January in Borneo, and between July to September in peninsular Malaysia.
TASTE/AROMA
Rambai smells and tastes almost like its larger and meatier tampoi cousins but is much more acidic. Sweet rambai exists, though what is available is usually of the sour variety.
COMMON USE
Usually eaten raw, though also used in drinks or preserved in sugar. The skins can be cooked into curries or combined into sambals. Excess fruits in Borneo are made into vinegar.
USE IN DEWAKAN
The fruit is either served raw or the juice turned into rambai ice.
SOURCES
Lamb, A. (2022). A Guide to Market Fruits of Borneo (pp. 248-249). Natural History Publications (Borneo).
