the sour fruit post

A few sour fruits go down in my story (and my history) as my favored sour aromatics or ingredients in cooking.

The biting tamarind of Asia, which has longer pods than that of Africa, is filled with vitamin B and calcium. Known as sampaloc in the Philippines, it is a staple of Filipino cuisine, such as in the sour soup of sinigang, among my favorites. It is likewise often found in Indian curries.

A citrus hybrid of Southeast Asia, the tangy calamansi features a ton in my own noodles, cakes/pies, drinks. An aromatic of traditional Philippine dishes, including the various pancits plus preserves, and condiments, by itself or with soy sauce/chili, it is also called lemoncito and is high in vitamin C.

Acidic and replete with oxalate that prevents kidney failure and lowers cholesterol is the bilimbi or kamias in Tagalog/iba in Ilonggo. It is a preferred souring agent of Asian and Far Eastern cooking just like the Tagalog sinigang plus paksiw and the Ilonggo pinamalhan.

The sharp binucao, dubbed as batuan in Ilonggo/Visayan, is a popular ingredient in Ilonggo soups such as the KBL (kadyos baboy langka), another favorite, and, like kamias, fish soups and stews including sinigang. Endemic to the Philippines, it is full of vitamin C, potassium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, calcium.

A favored Asian and Far Eastern aromatic in curries (like my preferred Pakistani and Indian ones), salads (like my preferred Thai fresh salad), the tart green mango or manggang hilaw in Tagalog is high in vitamin C, A, E. In the Philippines, it is likewise eaten raw, drunk as juice, and pulls to pickled food like ensaladas.

By itself, as a juice, and in the varied Filipino adobos, the pineapple, known in Tagalog as piña, is a zesty cooking staple of the Philippines and all over the world. Filled with vitamin C, it is a headliner of the Filipino stew called pininyahang manok (or pineapple-laden chicken).

For certain, I am a fan too of all sorts of vinegar, the tomato (or kamatis in Tagalog), the rambutan (sour or not, my second-favored fruit after the mango), and the grape (or ubas in Tagalog, my third-favored fruit).