Cambodia Calling: Kro-lyiang - a Cambodian berry

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Kro-lyiang - a Cambodian berry

I was offered some "krolyiang" the other day. The whole bag pictured costs just 500riels or USD0.125 cents. It's a kind of furry berry which is rather tasteless. The fur feels weird on your tongue. It is very small, and has a hard seed. It looks like the wolfberry/枸杞(gou qi) but I'm not sure. I tried to google to find the English name but had no luck.

I did find this interesting site listing tropical fruits by scientific name. Many of the links have photos so I had an interesting browse. Click on Morus Nigra or Black Mulberry - it looks like a stubby caterpillar!

Anyway, the tree must be common enough. There is even a market here in Siem Reap, Psar dum krolyiang, which is named after the fruit tree. If anyone knows its English name, please let me know :)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Diana - my friend Andy has some ideas about your fruit. I'll post what he told me via email:

My guess based on the name and her pictures is Dialium cochinchinense,
a forest tree. The fruits are edible, the bark can be used to make a
brown dye and the wood is good for things pillars and short joists (as
in rice mills or carts).

According to my references, the name is ក្រឡាញ់

Andy has a very interesting (although sporadically updated) blog here: http://www.mandevu.net/
He studies rice farming in Cambodia and is my go-to guy for all plant related questions :); 5:06 am
Diana Saw said...: Hey Alison! Thanks so much! It's great to have a knowledgeable friend like you to sort out my Cambodian queries. :)

I checked out Mandevu.net. Very interesting. Thanks for that!

Hope you're well in PP!; 4:58 pm
Anonymous said...: Actually I've been back in the US for about a month but I should be back in SEA and in Siem Reap for a couple days at the end of November. I'll let you know and maybe we can grab a coffee! :); 8:20 pm
Diana Saw said...: Hey Alison, sounds great! Look forward to seeing you again. Hope your parents can come for a visit too :); 4:47 pm

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Sunday, September 20, 2009

Kro-lyiang - a Cambodian berry

4 comments:

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