Rambutan (ngo).

Rambutan is hard to miss at a Thai market in the early rainy season: bunches of red fruit covered in soft, springy hairs, sometimes tipped with green or yellow. Under the skin is a round of translucent white flesh, juicy and sweet with a mild tartness, wrapped around a single seed. Some varieties come away from the seed cleanly, others cling a little.

Ways to use it

• Pinch the skin with your thumbnail, or make a shallow cut around the middle, and pop the fruit out.
• Eat it fresh and cold, straight from the bunch.
• Pit the fruit and stuff each one with a small piece of pineapple, a well-known Thai combination.
• Add peeled, pitted rambutan to a fruit salad or a bowl of syrup and ice.

Storing it

Rambutan doesn't keep long. Within a few days the hairs go dark and dry, even though the flesh can still be fine for a little while after that. Keep the fruit in a cool spot, eat it soon, and rinse the bunch under running water before peeling.

Where it comes from

Grown to certified organic standards. The certificate for each lot is shown when you trace your pack.

Every pack will carry a lot code. Enter it on the Trace your pack page and you will see the farms in that lot, the harvest date and the certificate.