Kamias

Averrhoa Bilimbi

Kamias is actually a fruit that most Filipinos used as a condiment or spice. This sour fruit is used in soups and also in cooking fish we call ‘pinangat’, a type of cooking where you arrange the fish on top of the kamias and with a little water and salt let it cook in medium heat till it is almost dry, very simple cooking indeed but very delicious.

The tree grows up to 15 feet tall and the green fruit comes in bunches.

The magenta-colored flowers are almost insignificant except they cover the whole trunk of the tree hence the fruits too. The bees are the common pollinator.

It needs full sun and good draining soil. You can buy seedling from a nursery specializing in tropical plants.

The fruit itself is juicy like the star fruit or carambola except more sour. It has soft seeds inside. I remember my grandma used to make candies out of these fruits. She will soak them in lime overnight and then dried in the sun till dry and then cook them in caramelized sugar just like making preserves and then putting them in jars and they are ready to eat like sweet dates.