Salak

Salacca zalacca · Tropical fruit

40 pairings

Salak, or snake fruit, is the fig-shaped fruit of a stemless, spiny Southeast Asian palm (Salacca zalacca). Its reddish-brown skin is patterned in fine, tile-like scales that peel away like a reptile's, revealing ivory garlic-clove-shaped lobes that taste crisp, sweet-tart and astringent at once.

Picking a good onedrag

Tight scales, hard, dry at the stemSoft, weeping, smells fermented

Market freshOut of hand or sliced into rujak. Salak is non-climacteric and never sweetens at home, so taste one first: a sour, astringent fruit stays sour and astringent.Everyday best

ScalesDull but flat, a few pale scuffs

Heft & shakeFirm all round, the barest give at the tip

Stem endScar dry, browned at the edge

SmellFaint sweet-resin, dry husk

What to look for, from tight scales, hard, dry at the stem to soft, weeping, smells fermented.

Preparing