Sweet and soursop

OK, nothing below probably looks too yum, especially to the Western eye. But I can assure you it all is! Like so many things in Asia, don't judge by the appearance.

I was first intrigued when I saw these giant green armoured slugs at a fruit stall in Singapore's Chinatown. The fruit seller told me they were soursop. I got ranging descriptions from friends about this fruit 'it's kinda sweet' 'it's sour' (you would expect sour, after all!) So the next time I was at Tiong Bahru market's shaved ice stand I ordered the 'tadpole, soursop, almond jelly' combo. And here's what it's like:

The shaved ice combo was yum.
The soursop in it was also yum - it is both sweet and tart. Fruit pieces consist of small 'envelopes' each surrounding a flat, black stone, similar to a custard apple's (in fact the fruits are related). The white, fruity part is textured a little like a fibrous and very ripe peach!

For this dish, the soursop pieces were in a syrup, which probably added to the sweetness element. Definitely worth giving both the soursop and the shaved ice with tadpoles a try!

* Not real tadpoles btw. They are actually small jelly balls, or (in the case of the grey ones) tiny fleshy seeds in syrup.

Open soursop image courtesy sixmonthseaside blog