Cempedak

Smaller, smellier jackfruit

Cempedak is botanically very similar to jackfruit — same genus, same general structure of segmented yellow flesh-pods around large seeds inside a spiky greenish-yellow rind. The differences:

• Cempedak is smaller (1-3 kg vs jackfruit’s 10-30 kg)
• The flesh is denser and more intensely sweet
• The aroma is stronger and more pungent — described as a cross between durian, jackfruit, and bananas

For Southeast Asian fruit lovers, cempedak is often considered the more flavorful of the two, but its strong smell limits its export potential.

Cempedak goreng

The most beloved cempedak preparation in Malaysia is cempedak goreng — pieces of cempedak flesh dipped in batter and deep-fried, then sold piping hot from street stalls. The frying intensifies the sweetness and produces a crisp shell around chewy fragrant fruit.

This preparation is so iconic that “cempedak goreng” stalls are a fixture of Malaysian and Indonesian markets, especially during fasting month and at evening night markets.

Even the seeds are eaten

The large brown seeds inside each cempedak fruit-pod are boiled or roasted and eaten like chestnuts — slightly sweet, starchy, and a regional snack. Nothing of a cempedak fruit is wasted.

A regional fruit

Despite being beloved in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Brunei, cempedak rarely makes it to Western markets. The strong smell makes it unwelcome in air-conditioned hotels and apartments — many places ban it like durian. The fruit also doesn’t ship as well as jackfruit, with a shorter shelf life.

For travelers who want to try it, the Malaysian peninsula in midyear is the place.