Sarawakian Local Delights : Engkala

This photo is by Francis Phang, Kuching. Engkala is a fruit that is found in abundance in the coastal region of Sarawak when in season. The fruit is a little like avocado. There are two ways of preparing it for eating. You can scald the cleaned fruit for a few minutes and the fine textured fruit is eaten on its own with some salt.

Or you can hit the base of the fruit with the back of a spoon and the fruit is ready to be eaten. We often wonder who discovered this way of preparing the fruit for eating.



Engkala is a wild fruit and the trees grow well even when they are found in low lying and flood prone areas.

Some food foragers even paddle a boat to a tree to collect the ripe, pink fruits. When still unripe the fruit is pale green in colour.

Engkala can be eaten as a salad with sambal belacan.











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