|

Breadfruit

ByMaria

IMG_0124

Breadfruit is called ‘rimas’ in the Philippines. It is a fruit and vegetable at the same time. We eat the fruit by boiling or grilling and steaming. My grandma always serve us breakfast of boiled “rimas” and freshly grated coconut with sugar. It’s so tasty and good for your health too. It has a texture of a sweet potato but tastes a little bland that’s why we have to dip it in coconut with sugar. As a vegetable, we cook “rimas”, some people call it “kamansi”, in coconut milk with chili peppers and ginger for spicing it up.

I did not know back then, but Hawaiians call breadfruit “ulu” and it is a very important staple food for the Polynesian people. The fruit is full of starch just like ‘poi’ or mashed taro. The tree which belongs to the mulberry family has latex that the natives used as a caulk in their boat making. The leaves of the breadfruit is an inspiration for a design in the Hawaiian quilt making.

The tree produces both male and female flowers which can be pollinated in three days. A single tree can produce up to 200 fruits per season. For this reason, we should plant this tree as a means of survival during the bad weather or hurricane season as a food source just in case.

Similar Posts

  • Kale

    ByMaria

    The popularity of kale as a cancer-fighting vegetable made me decide to plant some. I started with seeds and the variety is called “Toscano”. It is a plain-leaf type. Some kales have curly leaves. Some are called ornamental kales because of their different colors and mostly used as decorative plant in the garden. I have…

  • Pole Beans

    ByMaria

    I like beans, long beans, green beans, winged beans I like them all. But I always have more fun growing pole beans. There are also bush beans variety but I prefer pole beans because it gives more yield I think. I just transplanted these on the ground. Normally I would plant it directly on the…

  • Bean Sprouts

    ByMaria

    Beans sprouts from Mung Beans-(Phaseolus aureus) – came from the seeds of the plant we call munggo or”vigna radiata”. These plants have long been cultivated in India, China, Thailand, Philippines and other Asian countries. Japan on the other hand cultivates soy bean sprouts(glycine max) and they call bean sprouts “moyashi”. In the Philippines, beans sprouts…

  • Calamansi/Calamondin

    ByMaria

    Calamansi or calamondin – (citrofortunella) is our lemon counterpart  in the Philippines. It is a fruit but is more widely use as a condiment.  It is a good accompaniment for pancit or rice noodles, rice porridge or arroz caldo and also can be juiced for a refreshing drink.  It is sometimes used in “sinigang” or…

  • Guava

    ByMaria

    Guava is a popular fruit in the Philippines but it is seasonal. During rainy season that’s when it is most abundant. There are several varieties of guava that is native to the Philippines that I know of but the guava java which is an import variety from Indonesia hence the name, became the most popular….