Although you can buy many in supermarkets,

the best price and quality is often found in makeshift wooden stalls along roads

Particularly close to Kampong with village areas in the country

These are usually the actual local farmers selling the fruits of the season

J: Hi, lovely people! C: Hello!

Welcome back to our flat in Kuala Lumpur

C: We have an array of fruit in front of us J: We do!

C: You may be asking, "Why is that?"

J: Because while we've been in Malaysia, we've been eating an awful lot of fruit

C: Although it is high in sugar, a lot of fruit; I mean,

depending what fruit you go for

Yeah. I've had to be quite careful. There are some fruits - because obviously I can't have a lot of sugar in my diet -

so I can have a tiny little bite of some things,

but then the day we went to your uncle's house and had...?

C: Cempedak J: Cempedak

C: Which I'd never had before. I don't know if I even said that right.

J: Cemp...? C: Cempedak. Insert word.

J: Sure. We had that. And then I was sick afterwards.

Locals love to dip the stripped off fruit flesh in a flour mixture

and deep-fry it in oil

resulting in a popular crispy tea-time treat

while its seeds can be roasted and eaten as snacks

much like roast chestnuts

So we thought we'd try some other weird Asian fruit

"Weird" being obviously subjective

if you're from Malaysia; this is just your fruit

[Laughing[ But all of these fruits

are grown in Malaysia

and some of them I've definitely never come across before

C: I've kind of seen most of them, because obviously I've been coming to Malaysia since I was like five, so

J: Claudia is half-Malaysian for anyone who doesn't know

C: So I recognise some of them--I mean, the ones in front of us now

I'm sure lots of you recognise, like

bananas!

J: But they're baby bananas!

C: I think they're just this type of banana, but they're really nice; they're really sweet

J: So we're going to try the fruit, tell you what we think, and then tell you a little bit about them

once we've actually found out about them

because we didn't want to ruin the surprise

J: Shall we begin with the bananas?

C: It's actually not called a banana

J: Oh? C: When I bought it, it wasn't called a banana

J: Oh, well there we go, then C: But I wasn't sure if that was just the Malay name

C: Nice.

J: It's a lot firmer

C: Yeah, it was really the least exciting one to try

J: All right, let's move onto these ones because they're fun-looking

C: Rose apple

I don't know what its actual name is; we'll have to find out

J: They're very beautiful, I have to say

They smell like...

Actually, they don't smell of anything

Maybe when you open them; let's open them.

C: Ooo, it's like a heart shape

J: It's very pretty. C: Yeah.

C: Does it smell once you've opened it?

Not really.

C: The texture is an apple.

C: Oh! It just sprayed in my eye.

J: I don't think that is like an apple.

J: It's more spongy. C: Yeah.

J: I like it because it's not sweet. C: It's not sweet at all, really.

J: I bet that's lovely in a salad.

J: The rose apple, or Jambu Merah,

(yep)

is shaped more like a pear

Its course and crisp texture

and briny flavour has resulted in a lot of Malaysian [?]

using it as an addition to the popular local Rojak Buah

fruit salad dish

J: All right, next thing we're going to try C: This! J: Is a starfruit!

Both: Oh, OK.

Both: Star fruit!

C: Obviously it's got its name because it's got the five sides--five...points.

C: Like a star.

J: Smells a bit orange-y.

J: I've never eaten this before.

C: I've had star fruit many a time, but...

J: What is this texture? It's very solid.

But yet it looks like a...

peach.

C: I would say it's got like a watermelon sort of texture. It's very watery.

J: Well, maybe it's different when you bite into it.

J: Oh, it's got skin!

C: I quite like it.

[?]

J: Oh, my God.

C: It's quite tangy, yeah.

J: It tastes like something that's gone off.

C: Maybe this one has. J: But just, only just.

This one quite possibly has maybe just gone off.

It's a bit brown on the sides.

C: It may have been in our fridge for a week.

J: The Belimbing is the star fruit,

which is another fruit native to Malaysia, with two distinct varieties

The first is a light green type that is salty in taste

while the second is a mellow yellow

with a sweet undertone

Crisp in texture, the fruit is said to help lower your blood pressure!

All right, which one shall we eat next?

C: Thisss!

J: Oo.

J: What is that? It looks like a pear that has gone wrong.

C: It's guava. J: Or an apple.

J: A guava! Oh, I've heard of guava before.

J: That does not look at all how I expected it to look.

It doesn't have a centre point like a pear or an apple.

C: This is actually what they put in the--you know the...

Oh, what's it called? You know when they sprinkle all that spicy sugar on fruit?

J: Ohh, yes!

J: They sell cut up fruit with a little powdery thing that you put over the top.

And, um...oh, Rojak!

I think it's called Rojak.

J: Oh.

C: But this is a popular fruit to have with it, because

J: It's very solid. C: Yeah.

J: Bites like a pear. Texture like a pear.

Tastes nothing at all like a pear.

C: No.

J: It reminds me of something.

But I want to say cleaning product.

C: Is that nice now, without the outside? J: Oh, that's so much better.

J: Oh, my God!

C: Yeah, it's the outside that's bitter, isn't it? J: Don't eat the outside of this, no.

J: The guava fruit is popular in Malaysia

for its hard texture and juicy, briny taste

Locals love the sweet and sour addition of Asam Boi with it

(dried sour plums)

C: So far, nothing has really convinced us. J: I'm not hugely excited.

J: Right, onto...

the next one!

J: Papaya? C: Yeah! J: Yaaay.

C: You can buy these in England now.

But only like in the last, what? Maybe not that--when I was little, you couldn't buy these in England.

C: This one's not that ripe, so it will be OK for you.

J: Excellent. C: Because it's usually quite a sweet fruit, isn't it?

J: Papaya has a gorgeous inside star shape; I really like it

c: Yeah, it does, and it has these quite big seeds inside.

C: OK, so you don't eat the skin on the papaya

J: Good to know. C: Yeah, just to let you know that.

C: This one's actually quite ripe.

J: It's not too sweet. C: No.

C: It's nice.

It's got a similar texture to a honeydew melon.

But a little bit more...

mushy.

J: There's more to it, I would say.

J: It's the winner from this group, certainly. C: Yes.

J: Also native to the tropics of the Americas,

this import has flourished in Malaysia

with the climate and soil conditions perfect for its growth.

C: Hiii [?] J: So, we have our next batch of fruit.

J: We have to talk a little louder because we had to turn on the air-con

because it's ruddy hot

C: I don't even know what that one is.

C: I saw it and was like, "It looks like a peach."

C: Doesn't it? J: It looks so interesting!

C: Looks a bit like a plum. J: It's a plum!

J: Here you go. C: Woah.

C: That's not a plum.

J: No, I've had this before!

J: It's like a Sharon fruit. C: Ohhh, yeah!

J: Yeah, yeah, yeah? C: Yeah, it tastes like a Sharon fruit.

C: Do you like it?

J: Love it.

J: Moving on.

C: This one! J: Oh, God.

J: I'm slightly scared of this one.

J: We'll just take the side that looks good. C: It might have maggots in it.

C: Again, this has been in our fridge for a week.

J: We've been planning this video, guys, just so you know.

C: I don't like--that last time I cut into, what was it, a little mini eggplant?

C: And oh, my God, it was the biggest maggot I've ever seen

J: I'm a lot braver than you. C: OK.

J: No. C: No. Both: No.

C: It's actually quite a delightful fruit.

J: Can we get a new one?

C: Please take it away and wrap it up in a bag; I'm scared that that's going to implode with maggots

J: OK, so I got rid of it. We're safe.

Let's make it better. You can choose which of these two we go for next.

J: OK!

C: Big one.

J: That is certainly a big one.

J: I've never eaten one

C: They sell these in England as well

J: I've still never eaten one. C: I think it's related to the grapefruit.

C: Yeah, it's not as sweet, and it's got really big segments and you can just eat one whole segment; it's quite cool.

J: Oh, OK. Let's go.

J: All right, you're sure this is not a fingernail job?

J: OK.

C: Well, you can try, but...

J: Oh, my God! C: Why don't you just use a knife, darling? [?]

J: I feel it's a bit like an orange, but it--argh.

J: Ohhhh!

J: Why wasn't I taught knife skills?

J: Oh, actually, I know why: because I cheated on my Food Tech exam.

J: Because I cut my finger open and then my teacher did all my cutting for me.

C: What are you scared of? J: I don't know!

I thought it might just explode in my face at any minute.

J: That's not what I expected it to taste like.

C: It's like a mild grapefruit taste, but without the horrible acidity

J: Mmm. C: I like it!

C: See, look, and you can pack a segment up like this

Put it in your kid's lunch box and then they can open it and just have one like

C: a segment J: Ahhh.

C: It may be quite piffy

and hard to peel

because it has been in our fridge...

for a week now

J: OK, now, let's move on to one of my favourite fruits C: Ooo.

[Silly voices] Fruit!

C: Lychees are very thin-skinned J: Yes

C: and then you pierce into it and it's like a juicy mess everywhere

And then you're like [frustrated noise] and you just wanna eat your lychee, but you've gotta get the shell off,

whereas this one it's a bit tougher

so once you get your nail through, it's quite easy to just break it off, isn't it?

C: It's a bit more rewarding to eat when you're hungry

J: It's called a dragon's eye because it's all googly

C: It's because it's got a black [screeches]

[Slow motion replay of the screech]

J: Is it another maggot-y one?

[Sadly] C: I don't know! J: Oh, that's not a maggot; it's not moving

C: Is that just the seed? J: I think that's just the seed.

C: I was going to say - normally, the seed is black

C: So inside the translucent, fleshy fruit... J: Inside the blackness [?] is white

C: It looks like an eyeball, like looking at you

J: It's like perfectly fragrant

C: Ah, they are nice. It's very nutty, as well. J: Mmmm.

C: Juicy, fruity nut.

J: I love these so much.

J: The dragon eye, or langsat,

originates in Peninsula Malaysia,

with an almost paper thin shell

the translucent flesh is sweet

J: Onto the next fruit, the final lap!

C: All right, OK.

C: These are all quite weird-looking. I mean, what is this?