Santol ranked 13th in a tropical fruit poll I once posted on my food blog, www.marketmanila.com. It seems like an unusually low score, for a fruit that is in many a backyard and which provided me with terrific snacking opportunities as a child and young adult. We had this absolutely humongous “Bangkok” santol tree in our front yard when I was growing up – and it bore fruit the size of small cannon balls, or at least I seem to recall them that way. Santol are hitting the markets now, slightly earlier than usual, so it’s a great time to savor this underappreciated fruit.
Believed to have originated in Indochina, near Cambodia or thereabouts, according to researchers at Purdue University, the Malay term for the fruit is “sentul,” hence our own name “santol” being is a close derivation. Santol (Sandoricum koetjape) belongs to the meliaceae family of trees, of which very few bear edible fruit. With a tough outer skin and unpalatable rind (I love it with salt!) heavy with tannins, it seems unlikely that the fleshy, creamy and fibrous pulp would yield a sweet and sour flavor and texture that you either learn to love or hate.
When they are in season and plentiful, fruit vendors often peel the fruit, and package them with salt, and wait outside schools and large offices to entice buyers. They are also sometimes sold from large clear plastic containers, bobbing up and down in water, to prevent their peeled skins from oxidizing and discoloring.
I like them best as is, during the peak of the season, with a palm full of rock salt. While other folks include santol in savory dishes, I prefer it as a sweet treat, somewhat reminiscent of quince preserves and a beautiful deep amber color. But little known to many is this utterly simple and refreshing concoction – santol juice – essentially an infusion of santol flavor into water that is surprisingly good, and so incredibly easy to make.
To make santol juice, you will need a large glass pitcher, water, sugar syrup and ice. In a small saucepan, add a cup of water and a cup of white granulated sugar. Turn the heat on and stir until the sugar is fully dissolved. Turn off the heat and let the syrup cool completely. That’s your sugar syrup, and it can be stored in the fridge for up to several days. Next, peel about 4-5 large santol (or equivalent volume of smaller fruit). Place the seeds and creamy pulp in a large glass pitcher. Cut up the tan colored skins into half inch thick slices, exposing the maximum surface area. Add these to the pitcher, fill with potable water and some sugar syrup to taste, and let this chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours. Serve either strained or not, to your preference. The pitcher can be filled with water again and steeped for several hours to yield another pitcher full of juice.