Durio

Also know as:

What:

Durian could grow up to 50 meters, depending on species. The leaves are dull gold underneath with glossy green leaves. The fruit is thorny, up to 1 foot, typically 3 kg per fruit, with 5 to 15 seeds in. The flower is yellow, and edible. The seeds are also edible as a snack. The fruits hang on mature tree branch, and could be trained and prune despite the contrary believe.

Where:

Why:

• The sweet silky durian is full of sugar, vitamin C, potassium, and good source of carbs and nutrients. Consuming the fruit is good to combat anemic, tiredness, depression, good for teeth, bones and digestion.

How:
Planting
To plant from seed, place seed from mature fruit in depth of 3 times of the seed diameter. Wait until sprouted. However the tree could not bear fruit until it matures, sometimes until 20 years. I usually buy the plant in nursery. The price range from RM 15 to RM 90, according to the variety.

Harvest
The trees are better if you have a few different cultivar in one place to promote cross pollination. The trees usually starts flowering in May and the fruits start to drop in August. The earliest drop are said "buang buruk" or to throw the bad fruits. In certain places, the fruit are taken when it reach maturity to sell in market.

Special needs
The trees could be tall, up to 50 meters, therefore if you want it to reach certain height, loop the primary branch so that it stops growing. The branches could be tied down to promote more horizontal growth and to prune vertical branches. I did not do this for the old trees, but planning to do so for our smaller trees.

Tips

Recipes

Durian crepe
Durian mille cake
Durian cheesecake
Triple layer durian cake

This is my Arwah Ayah (Dad) favorite way to consume durian

Cooked warm rice (Boiled 1 cup rice with 2 cups of water, until water evaporate.)
Sugar
Coconut milk(Grate coconut, add water and drain in sieve, take the milk and discard the grated coconut)
Durian

Put a cup of warm rice in your plate. Add durian or only the flesh. Add coconut milk and sugar, adjust accordingly.

P.s. Some like it watery, some like it a bit dry, adjust accordingly. I like it with a lot of durian, 1/2 cup of coconut milk, and maybe 1 tbs or 2 sugar. 

Who

Citrus Microcarpa

Also know as:

• Native to China, a cold hardy fruits but widely cultivated in Philippines, North America and Southeast Asia.
• We have one in the farm. Going to add more soon!

Health
Soap, shampoo, beauty product, aromatherapy.

• Asthma. Add 5 drop of calamondin with 1 tsp honey. Mixed and drink once a week. 
• Headache. Eat the skin, raw or squirt the juice to your nose. 
• Throat infection, with mucus and slime. add calamondin juice to black pepper and drink for adult or calamondin juice with 1 tsp honey for kids.
• To clean oil residue in cloth, add salt to calamondin juice, scrub it on the cloth and leave for 5 to 10 minutes. Wash as usual.
• Blurry spectacles. Rub the spectacles with calamondin juice and clean cloth.

Who

Citrus × aurantiifolia

Also know as:

• Native to Southeast Asia, brought through Middle East to North Africa, then to Sicily and Andalucia to West Indies, by the Spanish explorers.
• We plant only one in our farm, we hope to add more soon!

Health
Soap, shampoo, beauty product, aromatherapy.

• Ulcer. Washed and press the juice from 1 lime, add water, and drink before eating meal.
• Headache, drink the juice with add water and honey.
• Wound. To heal wound, rub half the lime to injury and leave it dry. (ouch!)
• For healthy kidney, drink the juice thrice a day.
• To lose weight, drink the juice warm.
• To reduce coughing, drink the juice mixed with soy sauce.
• Throat infection, mixed 1/2 cup warm water, juice of 3 lime, 1 tsp honey and gargle the mixture for 3 minutes, 3 x a day.
• Reduce addiction to smoking, sliced the lime thinly, suck on it when you want to smoke and drink a glass of warm water. Repeat as needed for a week.
• Natural deodorant, scrub body with half of lime. Let it dry for 5 minutes before shower as usual.
• Oily face, scrub the lime half on to face (except if there's a cut) and washed after 10 minutes.
• Acne and reducing the scar, apply the lime juice with cotton bud on acne and the scar, washed after 30 minutes. To increase effectiveness, mixed honey in.
• Healthy, thick shiny hair without dandruff and hair fall, washed hair scalp with lime juice and rest for 30 minutes before wash with clean water. Do it 3 x a week minimally.

Who

Citrus Hystrix

Also know as:

What:

A thorny bush, up to 10.7 m tall with aromatic and double leaves shapes, white fragrant blossom and rough, bumpy green fruit.

Where:

Why:

• Widely use in cuisine and the oil is used in perfumery.
• The juice is consider too acidic to use in food preparation, but good for health such as shampoo and perfume.

How:

Tips

Recipes (Mouth watering and I want to make these babies)

Cod with kaffir lime butter
Steamed fish with ginger and kaffir lime.
Kaffir lime mousse
Kaffir lime tart

Busy mom recipe(less than 30 minutes)

Tom yum (I like to call it throw it all in tom yum)

8 cups of water
4 stalks of lemongrass
1 inch of ginger
10 kaffir lime leaves
5 Cili padi (if you like spicy, add more)
1/2 kilo of protein of choice (I like to mixed prawns, cuttlefish and fish patty, maybe even some shellfish.)
6 clove of garlic
1 big onion
10 tsp of lime juice
2 tomatoes
1 cup oyster mushroom
10 tsp of fish sauce.
Salt and sugar to taste

Boiled the water. Pound the end of lemongrass and throw it in. Tear the kaffir lime leaves and throw it in. Chopped ginger into slices and throw it in. Chopped or diced the garlic and throw it in. Don't forget to throw the cili padi in, too. Let it boiled until your house smell like a Thai restaurant, and throw the meat of choice in. Stir.
Add in chopped tomatoes, onions (both cut into wedges) and mushroom in when the meat half cooked. Stir and let them boiled. Turn the heat off, add some salt and sugar to taste, add 5 tsp of lime juice and 5 tsp of fish sauce. Stir, adjust to taste, use all if you like it.

P.s. If you like it, add some cilantro in. I hate it so I usually won't add it in. :) Easy dinner soup with spice and time on your side.