PAIRP

Dabai

Canarium odontophyllum · Tropical fruit

Dabai (Canarium odontophyllum), often called the Bornean or Sibu olive, is a seasonal fruit of the Malaysian state of Sarawak that is eaten not raw but softened in warm water and dressed like a savoury dish. Beneath a thin, dark-purple to blue-black skin lies a layer of pale, buttery, oily flesh around a single hard, spindle-shaped stone. The flesh is bland and firm when raw but turns soft, creamy and rich once soaked, tasting faintly of avocado and olive; Sarawakians eat it warm with soy sauce or salt, or fold it into rice, so that the fruit reads as an oily, savoury food rather than a sweet one.

40 pairings
Where it grows
major regionnotable region
Global seasonality · at peak worldwide
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