Have You Ever Tasted A Buah Binjai?

I was at Emart last night when I came across a tamu vendor selling a fruit that looks like a large size chiku. The vendor told me that it is buah binjai (scientific name Mangifera caesia) and that it has a sweet & sour taste. She said many Bruneians like the fruit very much. Piqued with curiosity, I decided to buy three of the fruit for RM5.

The 3 Buah binjai that I bought

The 3 Buah binjai that I bought

On reaching home, I googled for the fruit. Mangifera caesia is a species of flowering plant in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae. Common names include jack, white mango, binjai (Malay language), wani (Balinese language), yaa-lam (Thai language), and bayuno (Filipino language). It belongs to the same genus as the mango and is widely cultivated in areas of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Papua New Guinea, Kerala and the Philippines.

The fruit is a large, edible, elliptical drupe 10–15 cm (4–6 in) long and 6–8 cm (2–3 in) wide. The skin is thin and brown with darker patches, and the flesh is yellow-white, mushy, and strongly odorous with an acid-sweet or sour taste.

A while ago, I cut one of the fruits. Its brown skin is thin and the flesh is white. My first impression upon tasting the fruit was that it tasted a bit like soursop but with a stronger odour. It has an acid-sweet taste. At first I felt a bit repulsed by the strong taste but after a few more bites, I quite like the fruit.

The buah binjai that I ate

The buah binjai that I ate