makadto

A guest house welcome sign on a jackfruit tree

Langka (jackfruit) is normally cooked as vegetable when unripe as in the ginataang langka of the Philippines, or the gudeg of Yogyakarta. It is typically eaten raw when ripe, though usually candied if used as dessert ingredient – halo-halo for instance. This is royalty in the kingdom of fruits.

Undoubtedly a tropical fruit tree

Similarly, a papaya fruit when unripe is usually cooked as vegetable in tinolang manok for example and eaten raw when reddish or golden ripe. The green unripe papayas are also grated and made into delectable salad like the one I had in Thailand, or it can be pickled, as in atchara. Give me papaya over apple or oranges anytime.

Very sweet Zambales mangoes

And here is one reason why I won’t leave the Philippines – mango. I have tried mangoes in other countries but not one of them can beat the taste of Philippine mangoes. The moment I tasted its sweet ripe meat, all political ugliness of the country became tolerable.

This is the normal way to serve ripe mango though it is more fun to just peel off the soft skin and bite…juices dripping