Sarawakian Local Delights : Kundong or Dried Sour Fruit

A long time ago my grandfather Tiong Kung Ping (who passed away in 1963) had a Wong Dang tree at the end of his garden. And being naughty kids we would climb the tree and eat the fruits even before they were really ripe!

Grandmother Siew and our adopted aunt Ah Hiong would always remind us that eating too many of these sourish sweet fruit would kill the greedy person: " Wong Dang Dang si nerng." That's Foochow which means the fruit can kill.

When we grew up and left Sibu we stopped eating the fruit because the property was abandoned as development took place and we even forgot about the fruit which was phased out by more trendy fruits like imported fruits and other exotic fruits. Today hardly any Foochow can remember the fruit or even own this old fruit tree some where in the backyard.

Today perhaps only the Ibans and other indigenous people carry on relishing the dried fruit in particular. Added to fish soup the dried skins of this exotic fruit is fantastically flavourful and sourish in taste making the fish soup refreshing. Today these dried fruit skins are only found in the markets of Brunei and Kota Kinabalu.  In the longhouses where this fruit is found, most Ibans would dry some of the fruits for home consumption today. They are dried and packed in platic bags and sent to loved ones living in Kuala Lumpur and as far away as Amsterdam or Oslo!! This is called a slice of love from home.

I have tried cooking Ikan Senangin Soup with a few pieces of the dried fruit. Refreshing and Excellent! Last week I managed to get a few grams of the sour fruit and will keep them for my Christmas cooking when the children come home.


A slice of buah kundong skin.

Close up of the dried fruit skins.

A tray of buah kundong skina drying in the sun.