Rambutan

These brilliant magenta orbs can vary in hue, leaning toward yellow, red, orange, or a combination of these colors. They’re about 1½ inches in diameter and have bristly, flexible hairs protruding all over. Their flesh is reminiscent of firm grapes, and it clings to a large, black, shiny, inedible seed. Use your thumb to depress and crack the shell, pull back half of the skin, and then grab the entire jewel of fruit into your mouth with your teeth, stripping the sweet, subtle fruit from the smooth pit. Other Asian fruits such as the longan and the lychee are eaten the same way. Thai: ngaw; Malay: rambutan; Vietnamese: chôm-chôm