Oyong

Luffa acutangular L. cylindrica (Malaysia, Sulawesi, etcetera, petola; West Java, emes). From the botanist’s point of view these are two distinct species, but for the cook they are virtually indistinguishable, because the fruit must be eaten while still very young. As it grows older, L. acutangula develops little ribs or ridges along its length, while L. cylindrica remains smooth. Both have a fibrous inner structure, which hardens with age, but it is the ‘skeleton’ of L. cylindrica which is easier to separate from the surrounding pulp, so that this species provides, or used to provide, bath-loofahs on a commercial scale. The fruit of both species becomes bitter and strongly purgative when fully grown, and you are not likely to find any on sale which are more than about 20 cm (8 in) long.