Wampee
Clausena lansium · Tropical fruit
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The wampee (Clausena lansium) is a small, grape-sized subtropical fruit borne in loose clusters on an evergreen tree of the citrus family (Rutaceae). Native to southern China and mainland Southeast Asia, it has thin, downy yellow-brown skin and translucent, grape-like flesh that ranges from sweet to bracingly sour-resinous.
Picking a good onedrag
Plump, taut, gold-tan and resinousSplit, leaking, winey-sour
Market freshEveryday bestThe standard bunch, and good as it is. Taste one first: a mouth-puckering wampee is a sour cultivar, not a young fruit, and those go to jam and pie.
SkinTan to brown, plump, a dull patch here and there
Squeeze oneSoft and springy, still filling its skin
Cluster and stalksStalk tips browning, the bunch still holding
Rub the skin and smellFaintly resinous, sweet, a grape note behind it