Bilimbi
Averrhoa bilimbi · Tropical fruit
Top 10 pairings
The bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi), also called cucumber tree or tree sorrel, is the small, pale-green, cucumber-shaped fruit of a tropical tree closely related to the starfruit. Extremely sour and crisply juicy, it is rarely eaten raw out of hand and is used almost entirely as a souring agent, pickle and relish across South and Southeast Asia.
Picking a good onedrag
Hard, glossy, fiercely sourSoft, bruised, fermenting
Firm, palingEveryday bestPickle, chutney, sambal, or raw in seasoned slivers. Kidney injuries are on record from a glass of its concentrated juice daily for days - not from souring a dish, though anyone with kidney disease should still go lightly.
SkinPaling to ivory, still smooth and bright
SqueezeFirm, the faintest give at the middle
Stem endScar dry and pale, flush with the skin
SmellFaintly sharp, close to neutral