Sala or Look Rakam | สละ - ลูกระกำ | Salacca wallichiana
Family: Arecaceae - Genus: Salacca
The snake fruit grows on the salak palm tree, sprouting off the base of the palm in little clusters. The snake fruit palms are valued for their edible fruit, mainly in Thailand. Wild clumps of the palm in the forest not only produce food, but are also a major source of cork, thatch and other construction materials in rural areas. Both wild (in the forest) and cultivated, the palm is most abundantly found in the hot and humid areas of Thailand with the main producing provinces in Chanthaburi, Trat, Chumphon and Rayong.
Snakefruit grows on trees 3 years and older, and is ready to be harvested after 225 days after blooming. In this area you will find the fruit usually in August/September.
THE TREE
A creeping and tilling palm that grows in clumps, the creeping, unbranched stems can reach 3 - 4 meters long. Palms can be over 100 years old.
LEAVES
The snake fruit palm is an clustering palm with very spiny leaves that are 3 - 7 metres long
FLOWERS
Salak are dioecious, meaning each individual plant either produces female flowers or male flowers.
Male flowers grow on spikes of about 1 m long, branching into many reddish spadices
Female flowers grown on spikes of 1-2 m long, with 3-8 reddish flower spikes. The female flowers are cone shaped.
pollen.
FRUIT
The outside of the fruit is scaly like a snake and prickly like a cactus, but the inside is sweeter than honey, sour like a pineapple and incredibly juicy.
Its flesh is slightly acidic, giving your tongue a citrus like tingle.
CULINARY USES OF SALA
In Thailand, snake fruit is widespread, popular as a to-go snack on the streets of Bangkok (during season). Venders will often handle the dirty work, peeling the spiky exterior and packing the peeled fruit into convenient baggies for sale. Thais enjoy snakefruit dipped in a mixture of sugar and salt (you can find the recipe for that mixture by clicking on the link of the Food Forest Kitchen.
The heart of this palm is edible but requires care to extract since the plant is very, very spiky. Edible raw and cooked.
Salak is an ingredient in candies and juice in Thailand. \
The sour unripe fruit can be a substitute for lime in cooking, whereas the ripe fruit is sweet and consumed raw[
NUTRITION
Salak fruit consists of protein, beta-carotene, vitamin C, dietary fiber, iron, calcium, phosphorus and carbohydrates which are great for overall health.
TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL USE OF SALA
NOTE: please take advice from a doctor if you are planning to use herbal medicine.
The beta-carotene in Salak is a powerful antioxidant and works well to prevent cardiovascular disease, strokes and even cancer.
INTO THE WILD: a down to earth experience
For guests and visitors to Paksong we organize weekly tours "The Edible Forest" and Foraging weekends: Into the Wild. We work with local guides to take you in the jungle of Paksong. After foraging, we will cook a meal with the ingredients, using bamboo together with you!
Come and join and learn about the abundance of food that nature gives us!
INTO THE WILD!