The Pili Nut

Have you ever wondered how the delectable pili nut is being produced? Here's a photo of a pili tree taken from pinoytrees.blogspot.com.

The pili tree grows only on the tropical countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Philippines. However, it is only in the Philippines' Bicol region where its commercially farmed.

When the fruit had ripened from green into dark violet color, it is when the fruits are harvested for their nut inside. I bought the pili fruits above from Daraga Market, at P10 for 20 pcs. After peeling the skin and outer tissue of the fruit, the nut's hard shell is exposed like in the photo below.

Then, after I cracked the nut using a hammer, the nut's meat inside is revealed with a thin brown covering.

To remove the thin brown skin, just blanch the nut with boiling water for 1-2 minutes. The nut would be easier to peel to see the white kernel inside. Last photo was taken from pilinut.org.

It would now be ready for enjoyment, or for processing into tarts, candies, and cakes.