Thursday 17 February 2011

Hearts of Palms

Umbut is the Malay word for heart-of-palm, which is a vegetable harvested from the inner core and growing bud of certain palm trees.  It is costly because harvesting in the wild kills the tree.  It is therefore sometimes called the  ‘millionaire’s salad’.

A wide variety of palms are harvested for their heart, notably coconut ( Cocos nucifera ), Palmito Juçara ( Euterpe edulis ), Açaí palm ( Euterpe oleracea ), sabal ( Sabal spp ), pejibaye ( Bactris gasipaes ), oil palm ( Elaeis guinensis ) …

A stroll down the Sarikei’s Sunday market at Jalan Nyelong, one will be amazed with the variety of palm’s heart on sale…



This is sago's heart.  Metroxylon sagu also processed into sago pearl.



Mother said this is of nipah's, ( Nypa fruticans ),
which fruits are also harvested for its translucent, sweet kernel called atapzi in Hokkien. 
Sap collected from its inflorecence is made into alcoholic drink, vineger or atap sugar.
Young leaves are used for wraping tabacco for smoking.




This is umbut upeng, as the Iban lady said. 
Arenga sp. ?



This is hearts of Oncosperma tigillarium, a thorny palm.



This is supposedly rattan's shoots, locally known as selaris, laris, or moa.
Plectocomiopsis geminiflora 


Last, but not least, coconut's ...
Cocos nucifera




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