The pedalai is a large tree quite common in the lowland dipterocarp forest of Sarawak.
The fruit is a moderately large in size and has rigid and coarse hair. The hair is rather long like rambutan's.
When ripe the furit is soft and the skin can be easily peeled open by hand. That is, you don't need a knife. And it is the same way to open up a very soft chempedak or terap, as they are related.
The many fruitlets have soft, pearly white flesh that is aromatically very sweet. Many elders love this fruit, especially when they travel by long boat. They would stop their long boat and pick the wild fruits by the river bank. With so much development going on in Sarawak, I am afraid, many of the pedalai trees would be gone within this generation unless some people start planting them.
The pedalai is considered a sweet dessert and may be even lunch when one is travelling in the upper reaches of Sarawak rivers when it is the fruiting season. Many can still remember how nice it was to eat this fruit. I have only come across this fruit once before in Lingga, Sarawak.
The small brown seeds are delicious with nutty crunchy flavour. They can be dry fried, or deep fried.
It used to be quite common in the second division of Sarawak.
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