Ciku (Manilkara zapota L.)

Do you like ciku? I hate ciku because of the following reasons:
1) ‘sandy’ texture
2) sap that cling to the tongue
3) smells weird
4) hard to get the fruit to ripen
5) messy because hard to peel the skin
6) colour is not attractive
7) chore to spit out the seeds

ciku

Hahaha, why then do I feature it? Because of blogging. For the sake of sharing this fruit, I bought two cikus which are imported from Vietnam. It costs me about RM3, which is more expensive than huge Australian packham pears. I couldn’t resist it because of the nice leaves and also that CTG (whatever it means) sticker which made the fruit ‘imported’ looking.

However, I wasn’t disappointed at all because the fruit I bought was
1) sweet
2) flesh firm
3) no sandy texture, only smooth flesh
4) taste ‘creamy’
5) ripen the very next day I bought it
6) has no hairy skin (a little bit like a kiwi fruit)

Sorry it doesn’t look too good on photo, though.
ciku3

I hope not everyone share my dislike for this tropical fruit. BTW, does anyone know why we call green horns ‘young ciku’? I like to use it but do not know why.

Find out more about this fruit from the Sabah Government website. I am impressed they have written such a detailed explanation about ciku.

Post Author: