miracle fruit

A miracle fruit tree on the roadside of Brgy. Mambago, Sta. Rosa, Babak, Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) in Samal island, Davao del sur.

miracle fruit - (Mindanao fruit) [n.] calabash (sc.name: Crescentia cujete).

Miracle  fruit (Calabash) is used to be known only in Mindanao. It was seen growing anywhere there (in red). Latest distribution inventory shows miracle fruit is now all over the Philippines. I marked the provinces and islands in orange labels where miracle fruit is now grown and distributed by locals.

Miracle fruit (internationally known as the calabash) is a tree that bears huge fruits that looks like a buko (young coconut). It grows abundantly everywhere in Mindanao, some parts of the Bicol region, and in the Visayas. Few are also growing in Luzon up to the northern part of Ilocos and Cagayan region (see the food map, above, for the latest inventory). 

At first glance, you could have mistaken this as a young coconut fruit growing on a small tree.

Sadly, most of the fallen fruits were left to rot on the ground. Most local folks do not know what to do to make good use of this wonderful fruit. They dreaded the black color of its flesh and the gummy smell. What they do not realize is that black juice is sweet and has healing wonders, the reason why old folks called it the "miracle fruit."

I tried one. And yes, it was wonderful.

The  outer shell is very hard that you have to cut it with a saw to split open into halves You cannot just cut the calabash fruit with a knife, unless you use a big bolo or machete.   

Many who tried this drink claimed they experienced rejuvenating vigor and mental alertness. It is good when you are going to study, review, or take an exam.  

Local women who have tried the freshly extracted black juice claimed it helped ease their menstrual pain. 

Drinking miracle fruit juice is relaxing and helps you go to sleep, relieve stress, and feel well-rested as you wake up. It makes the skin glow healthy, and feel younger again.

Good for those who are recuperating from sickness and a treat after a weary activity. 

The flesh is white, moist, and soft.

 

I experimented with the first calabash fruit I got from Mindanao. I extracted the juice and processed my first miracle fruit wine at home. I hand-carried one fresh green fruit of calabash on my flight from Misamis Oriental to Metro Manila. I cut open and processed the fruit juice into miracle fruit wine using the needed ingredients that were found in the groceries. After three months of fermentation, I had the wine and enjoyed it.

I wonder if this fruit once grew in the fountain of youth. The vigor made me feel younger. Next time, I will no longer bring a calabash fruit. I will bring the tree.

When boiled, the flesh of calabash turns black.

Here's a calabash fruit I found in Cagayan de oro City, Misamis Oriental in Mindanao. I brought it home in Metro Manila. Cooked it into tea and later processed into wine.

How to know if the miracle fruit is already ripe to harvest:

• The color of the fruit is dark green and has slight shades and spots of brown.
• The surface or outer skin is no longer shiny.
• It is heavier and sounds dull when you knock it with your fingers.         

Personal Notes

Miracle fruit (Calabash) is used to be known only in Mindanao. It was seen growing anywhere there (shaded red in the food map, above). The latest distribution inventory shows miracle fruit is now all over the Philippines. I marked the provinces and islands in orange labels where miracle fruit is now grown and distributed by locals.

I first saw this fruit and the tree on the campus of Notre Dame University, Cotabato City on November 10, 2010. Since then, I took notes on where else I found miracle fruit in Mindanao.

In 2017, I picked a fruit from a tree in Cagayan de Oro and hand-carried it on my flight back to Manila where I tried to process it into wine. The wine turned out good - it tastes jammy and fruity. I kept a bottle of it until now for aging.

Related readings:

• Calabash the miracle fruit, Henrylito D. Tacio, Business Mirror,  Oct. 15, 2015, https://businessmirror.com.ph/2015/10/15/calabash-the-miracle-fruit/
• Calabash Tree (Crescentia cujete Linn.), Dr. Godofredo Stuart, Stuart Xchange, http://www.stuartxchange.org/Cujete

Know more about calabash here 

If you liked this post and our site, share it.

Let us know your opinion on the subject. Feel free to comment in the comment section, below. It is important for us to know what you think.

Tell us what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss.

See Index of Entries here.

Related posts:

How to make miracle fruit juice
or miracle fruit tea.

How to make miracle fruit wine

Lipote

Sawa

Dugyan (Philippine red durian)

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group. Have more bits and pieces about our kind of food, ingredients, and ways of cooking, dining, and knowing food culture across the 7,641 islands of the Philippines.

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I need your moral support, prayers, and what else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming. 

Sharing is happiness to me.  If you are pleased and happy of what you found here, please share the happiness we have in the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized when it becomes part of the reasons why you are happy and smiling. 

Edgie Polistico

For more abou

 

t Filipino food, see  this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

pipinong gubat

pipinong gubat - /pi-pi-nong gu-bat/ Tagalog fruit; dw Span. pepino [cucumber] > Tag. pipino  + gubat [forest] [n.] creeping cucumber (sc.name: Melothria pendula, Linn.) \wild cucumber.

Other local common names:

pipinong ihalas in Cebuano and Boholano

a.k.a. pipinong ligaw in  Tagalog

A variety of very tiny cucumbers having a smooth and watermelon-like berry.

Pipinong gubat or pipinong ligaw of Malolos, Bulacan.

Pipinong gubat or pipinong ligaw of Malolos, Bulacan.

Pipinong gubat found in Tagaytay City, Cavite.

The plant is a perennial climbing vine and can be found growing uncultivated or wild all over the Philippine archipelago, and in other countries on the other side of the world.

A pipinong ihalas found on the roadside of Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental. It is strikingly similar in size, shape, color, and taste (yes, I tried it) to that of pipinong gubat in Malolos, Bulacan and in Silang, Cavite.

Pipinong ihalas found in Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental

Pipinong ihalas of Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental

The vine bears tiny oblong-elliptic yellow-green berries which turn black when matured and ripe that grow 10 to 20 millimeters long, and about 12 to 15 millimeters in diameter. 

The crisp young green berries are edible and can be pickled or put fresh and whole in salads. The black ones can be used as purgative for livestock.

Pipinong ihalas from the backyard of our house in Inopacan, Leyte.

Pipinong ihalas of Inopacan, Leyte.

Trying some pipinong ihalas at home in Inopacan, Leyte.

Pipinong ihalas of Inopacan, Leyte.

 

Personal notes:

Our rural folks still wonder what to do with these tiny cukes. They do not eat them. They thought it is not safe to eat. They regarded the vine as a pesky plant on the farm. They do not know this plant is edible. Few recalled that their old folks used to pick this along the trail and have it as a snack. My dear friend, Jose Benigno Salvador, a Bulaqueño food historian, shared that the Katipuneros of Bulacan used to forage this wild tiny cucumber while trekking the terrains of Bulacan.

The pipinong ihalas I found in Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental is strikingly similar in size, shape, color, and taste (yes, I tried it) to that of pipinong gubat or pipinong ligaw of Malolos, Bulacan and in Silang, Cavite. Last summer, I found it growing in the backyard of our house in Inopacan, Leyte. I learned later in my research that this plant grows all over the archipelago. The fact is, we can actually find this tiny cucumber on the other side of the world, where it is pickled or put in a green salad. Last June 12, 2017, this was served as an heirloom salad by the Siglo Modern Filipino at the View Park Hotel of Tagaytay City, Cavite.

There was a study that found out that the “chemical-bromatologic” analysis of this wild cucumber constitutes a source of water, vitamins, minerals, and even some proteins. The fruits of this plant, despite their reduced size, have a pleasant flavor and are edible for humans. Its foliage is given to livestock as forage. Thus, this “wild cucumber” could be an additional nutritional alternative for men and animals. The wild cuke is 12.6% protein, 16.30% fiber, and 56.8% carbohydrates. The entire plant is good for ruminants.

In Myanmar, the green leaves are eaten as vegetables. One of my friends who learned about this suggested that the leaves can be stir-fried or sautéed with garlic just like when you cook talbos ng kamote (sweet potato tops) or added in soupy dishes as you do with spinach. You may add sahog (meat ingredient) and seasonings of your choice.

When matured or ripe, the fruit would turn black and can be used as purgative, usually to livestock and other foraging farm animals, and even to humans.

Propagation of pipinong gubat is by seed and cuttings.

Related posts:

Lipote

Dugyan (Philippine red durian)

Miracle fruit

All photos by Edgie Polistico are copyrighted. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

See Index of Entries here

If you liked this post, share it.

Let us know your opinion on the subject. Feel free to comment in the comment section, below. It is important for us to know what you think.

Tell us what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss.

For more about Filipino food, see  this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group. Have more bits and pieces about our kind of food, ingredients, and ways of cooking, dining, and knowing food culture across the 7,641 islands of the Philippines.

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I need your moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming. 

Sharing is happiness to me.  If you are pleased and happy with what you found here, please share the happiness we have in the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized when it becomes part of the reasons why you are happy and smiling. 

Edgie Polistico

buri

The towering buri palms in this panoramic ricefield  of Magsaysay, Occidental Mindoro. The tallest one in the middle is already dying after it bore fruits. I took this photo while sitting on the roof of a fully-loaded traveling  jeepney, August 11, 2010.

 

buri – /bu-rí/ (Tagalog, Capampangan, Bulaqueño, Waray, Ilonggo, and Bicolano palm)  [n.] raffia (sc.names: 1. Raphia ruffia; 2. Corypha umbraculifera, Blanco; 3. Corypha utan, Lam., Merrill; 4. Corypha elata, Roxb) \raffia palm \buri palm (Phil. English) \talipot palm.

Other local common names:

a.k.a. buli in Tagalog

a.k.a. ibos, bule or buli in Bulaqueño

a.k.a. ibus or silad in Bicolano

a.k.a. ebus, busi, or piet in Capampangan

buli in Cebuano, Boholano, and Ilocano

budjawi in Ilonggo

silag in Ilocano and Pangasinense

silal in Subanon

sirar in Bagobo

bagatai or taktak in Isinay

Buri palm is one of the largest palm trees we can find all over the country.  The leaves are sturdy and can be a strong binder for a bundle of firewood. The strips taken from its frond are used to bind farm goods, while the midrib of its leaf is used as a skewer to hold fish caught. The leaves are often used to bind the crabs.

The palms of buri are also used as a good food wrapper or packaging for suman sa ibos, patupat, sinanglay, inutokan, tagoktok, etc.. 

The Capampangans and Bulaqueños would use the palms of buri to weave native hats called kupiang ebus and sleeping mats they called dase. 

A serving of sweet tuba I tried at a roadside food stall of Balungao, Pangasinan in 2012. Read and see more photos here.

The Pangasinenses would harvest the sap they called sweet tuba from the inflorescence of buri. The sweet tuba is traditionally used to sweeten the Pangasinense patupat (sweetened glutinous rice in a square-woven palm pouch). It is from the inflorescence of buri that sweet tuba is gathered by a mangangarit (tuba gatherer) in a process similar to how coconut tuba is gathered. Unlike the Visayan tuba, no tungog (tanbark) is used in sweet tuba.

When sweet tuba is getting very scarce, patupat makers would resort to using arnibal (sugarcane syrup, a.k.a. pulot tubo in Tagalog) as sweetener being that arnibal is more abundant than sweet tuba in the region.

Sweet tuba if not consumed will become a Pangasinense tuka silag (raffia vinegar) in a few days. 

My own version of minatamis na buri has wild honey and star anise.  See my recipe here.

The palm of buri is also used by the Capampangans and Tagalogs to wrap bagkat, a thickened caramel-like syrup of boiled sap of buri. 

The buri fruits, while still green and young, have a soft nut with a taste and consistency similar to that of buko (young coconut fruit). The soft nut is eaten as is or boiled with sugar to make a minatamis na buri.  

Matured buri fruits are very hard to crack open. The nuts would even get harder and harder as it gets older by the time the fruits get fully matured and dried, they are very dense and marbled that they can be used as a cheap gem in jewelry or ornamental decors.

Freshly harvested buri fruits are green. 

(Photo credit to Castle Panganiban's Facebook account)

Buri fruits would turn maroon to dark brown after few days, specially when stored in closed plastic bags or in the refrigerator.

 

The ubod (pith) of buri is taken from the topmost part of the trunk. It can be cooked as vegetables, eaten raw like salad, or stuffed in fresh lumpia.

When the tree reached its maturity age, around 20 to 50 years, buri would start to bloom.  If the inflorescence is left to grow, it would burst open into a bunch of flowers that after a month or two would develop into a bunch of buri palm fruits. Soon after bearing fruits, the buri tree will die.

The dying trunk is sourced for palm flour, similar to lumbia palm of Mindanao. The inner part of the trunk is pounded into a pulp and processed into flour. The flour is made into suman, pastries, and other delicacies. Other uses are for medicinal and industrial benefits.

There are some places, mostly barrios (barangay) and districts (sitio) were named after this plant. Thus, we can find a place called Buri, Buli, or Ebus. It is the origin of other places called Bulihan, Kabulihan, Cabulihan, Burihan, Kaburihan, and Caburihan. The Brgy. Ebus of Guagua, Pampanga and the town of Cabulihan in Siquijor province are examples. Buri palms used to be thriving in these places. 

Personal notes

Buri palm reminds me of some people, who upon reaching the peak of their lives would become more passionate and productive in things they love to do. Then after delivering their best shot, they are gone and sorely missed.

Dark matured fruits of buli palm were part of my childhood happiness in Inopacan, Leyte.  My playmates and I would collect those round dried buli fruits we called bolitin. When very dry, they were dark brown or plainly black. We used to play bolitin as our toy marbles. Inside the bolitin is a hardened nut that when peeled would closely resemble that of a tiny ball of stone marble, much like a pearl and we kept them as a precious gem and traded them like play money as we play tinda-tindahan and bahay-bahayan.

All photos by Edgie Polistico are copyrighted. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

See Index of Entries here

If you liked this post, share it.

Let us know your opinion on the subject. Feel free to comment in the comment section, below.

Tell us what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss.

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I need your moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming. Sharing is happiness to me.  If you are pleased and happy with what you found here, please share the happiness we have in the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized when it becomes part of the reasons why you are happy and smiling. 

For more about Filipino food, try  our Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

lipote

Philippine Food Illustrated

lipote – /li-pó-te/ Bicolano, Quezonian [Quezon province], and southern Luzon [including Tagalog] fruit [n.] lipote tree and its fruit (sc.name: Sysygium polycephaloides or Syzygium curranii).

Other local common names:

a.k.a. igot or bahag in Tagalog and Bicolano

baligang in Bicolano [Albayano]

malig-ang in Bicolano [Camarines Norte]

amhi in Bicolano [Camarines sur]

igot in Waray [Samareño]

 

 

A species of Java plum. Lipote is a fruit tree that is indigenous to the Philippines and can be found growing in the Bicol region and in some places in the southern part of Luzon that includes Metro Manila, Batangas, Laguna, Marinduque, and Eastern Visayas that includes Samar.

The tree grows up to 9 meters or more and bears round, dark red to black fruits that look like that of duhat, but is rounder and has no seeds. Hence, it is often called a seedless duhat by those who do not know its local name.

The fruits are borne in compact clusters, each fruit is about 20mm in diameter and would become darker as it ripens. The ripest is black or very dark in color and has a rather dry but pleasant acid flavor. It is eaten ripe and raw.

When grown outside the Bicolandia, the fruits have the tendency to be more acidic or a bit sour in taste. 

Locals would collect the ripe fruits, mash and put them in a sealed container with some salt and sugar added inside. The container is juggled hard enough to squeeze the juice from the fruits. The extracted blood-red juice is collected and taken as a refreshing juice drink. The pure extract can be stored in a jar and will keep for weeks. It can be served cold by adding lots of ice. Some say that it tastes the hint of duhat but more like that of a mangosteen, with a peculiar tart-sweet and tannin taste.

The pure juice extract can be fermented to make wine, or mixed as a flavoring with lambanog (coconut arrack) and other beverages.

Be careful not to stain the dress or cloth with the dark red juice as it is very tough to remove. It could even stain the fingers and tongue. 

 

The fruits can also be preserved in the form of candies, compote, jelly, or jam.

It can also be used in making pickles and fruit pies.

The fruit is believed to have a high antioxidant content and is also good for treating hypertension, diabetes, or high sugar level in the blood.

Related posts:

Alugbati sauce

Dugyan (Philippine red durian)

Sawa

All photos by Edgie Polistico posted in this blog are copyrighted. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

See Index of Entries here

If you liked what you saw and read, please share this blog.

Let us know your opinion on the subject. Feel free to comment in the comment section, below. It is important for us to know what you think.

Tell us also what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss.

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group account of Philippine Food Illustrated (Private) and the Philippine Food Illustrated (Public)  It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure. 

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I also need moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming. 

If you are pleased and happy with this blog, please share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. It is energizing that my blog becomes one of the reasons why someone is happy and smiling. 

Edgie Polistico  

 

For more about Filipino food, see  this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.