Chayote

Sechium edule is a member of the cucumber family but looks more like a large, hard, slightly lumpy green pear. It’s originally from Central America. The Burmese call it suka thi. It has one seed, in a small core like an apple core, unlike most cucumbers and squash. The skin is peeled off, always (it has a stickiness in it that must be removed). The fruit grows on a climbing vine, the tender leaves and tendrils of which (suka ywet) are used blanched in salads and also cooked in soups (see Mimi’s Bean Soup with Tender Leaves). In Burma some people call chayote “Gurkha gourd” (gurkha thi). Perhaps it came into the country with the Gurkhas (who are from Nepal and were in the British-Indian army). Chayote are now widely available in North America in well-stocked supermarkets and in Asian and Mexican groceries.