Hi friends,
When I bought my present house the first thing I did was to plant a few trees in the side yard. However, after a few years, the trees succumbed to termites and died except for the belimbing tree which remains good until today. Other trees that I have now, the gaharu, cempaka and the mulberry were planted much later.
All the trees are thriving and making my home garden a little crowded. I don't mind that because they give shade and makes the place cool although scattered dead leaves become an eyesore. The belimbing tree very frequently bears fruits in abundance and there would be lots of scattered ones rotting away on the ground.
The belimbing tree with its low branches is a perfect place to hang the orchid pots. I feel it is more natural than building a structure to hang them. The only drawback is when the tree bears fruit I have the extra task of clearing the fruits that got dropped into the pots.
The belimbing fruits do not cause any excitement as do some other favorite fruits like mango, for example. They do get noticed sometimes but only due to its sheer abundance. Other than that there really is not much interest to people. 
The fruits seem to have no value. When offered to friends, they declined. To batter trade with the vegetable seller in the market will invite just scoffs :(
Even the birds give them a miss. How I wish they taste like grapes, then maybe you don't see them fallen and scattered to rot.
The sour acidic taste of the fruits makes it impossible to be consumed fresh. Other than using them in masak lemak I don't know how to use it any other way. Sometimes it makes me sad to think about the fruits being sidelined and so unwanted. So one day I plucked some and try to turn it into something which can be more palatable.
Here is how I made sambal sandwich filling using the fruits as ingredients.
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| Ingredients: belimbing fruits, anchovies, chili paste, onion, garlic, ginger. Not in picture: oil, salt, palm sugar. |
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| Process |
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| Add a lump of palm sugar some salt and oil |
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| Fry until quite dry |
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| Final product |
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| Yummm |
The texture is like jam. Taste is sweet but hot. Unexpectedly delicious!
So there, friends, a recipe for you to try.
Till next entry . . .
Wah kecur air liur dibulan puasa ni. Resepi yang harus dicuba. Saya suka belimbing buluh ni. Apa saja masakannya saya suka.malanya pokok saya tanam sudah tiga tahun lebih belum berbuah.
ReplyDeleteMasak lemak dengan udang atau ketam pun sedap juga :)
DeletePokok belimbing buluh kalau mula berbunga buat kita excited juga menunggu buah nya. Apabila buah terlalu banyak ia akan terbiar saja.
Thank you so much for sharing Aunty.
ReplyDeleteYa they fruit so abundant serentak tak termakan kan aunty.
My husband bila wifey xde dia goreng belimbing buloh dengan ikan bilis sama kicap.
Teringat masak lemak gulai telur dengan ikan bilis pun sodap kan.
You're welcome.
DeleteYa tak termakan kerana terlalu banyak dan cepat pula masak dan luruh.
Resepi hubby TK pun menyelera juga ya.
Oo itu masak lemak belimbing + telur itek a fav, memang sodap :))
Simple resepi ni tengok je pun nampak sedap heheheee...
ReplyDeleteKalau pembuat sambal hitam ni mesti licin kat pokok sure tak terbuang punyalah.
Resepi ringkas je Mrs A, rasanye gula original tu yang buat dia rasa sedap. Nak guna juga lah belimbing tu. Sayang. Biasa sekali makan sambal hitam,ok juga rasa dia. Katanya ambil masa panjang nak bagi dia hitam tu kan.
DeleteSambal sandwich yg berkhasiat.. seronok tgk berbudi pada Tanah Dan merasa hasilnya
ReplyDeleteMengandungi bahan semula jadi dan tanpa pengawet atau perasa :))
DeleteHey, my friend do use belimbing for cooking once in a while. Not sure for what recipe but I think it should be for something spicy like your sambal. You have a very productive tree btw. You have a gaharu, wow!
ReplyDeleteYes will cook it sometimes, show appreciation to the tree.
DeleteFour gaharus already making my place like a small jungle.
I would, I would! That does look most delicious! But if only can omit the anchovies cos I'm a vegetatian.
ReplyDeletePs: I do hope my garden can be like yours, dense with trees and plants, better still if like a jungle, ha ha! To me, belimbing fruits are quite nice even when eaten raw. Our neighbour has one tree and we often feel very happy whenever she gives us the fruits.
I think can omit the anchovis would also be ok.
DeleteYou can eat raw it you can overcome the stinging first bite :)
A good tree can provide for the neighbourhood :)
nicely cooked
ReplyDeleteIt's like a hot jam.
Deletetengok ni terus teringat sambal hitam
ReplyDeleteSambal hitam pun sedap juga bagi yang tahan pedaskan.
DeleteSaya pun plan nak tanam2 di rumah Batu nanti wpun x de la byknsgt tanah
ReplyDeletePokok ni senang hidup dan bila besar rajin berbuah. Rasa nak masak pergi petik tak payah pergi market :)
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