Pobuzi from Zuozhen
The immature fruits of the tree Cordia dichotoma, called pobuzi in Chinese and known in English by various names including fragrant manjack, Indian cherry and Sebastan plum, have such an astringent taste that even birds have no interest in eating them. In Taiwan, however, they are part of the national cuisine. The main methods of preparing pobuzi are to pickle them in brine and press them into a flat cake, or else to add flavorings such as black bean soy sauce or rock candy and put the finished product in jars. Pobuzi cake is mainly consumed as a side dish with rice congee or fried eggs, while the version that comes in jars goes well with steamed fish.
The main areas where pobuzi is grown in Taiwan are in Tainan and Chiayi, and the harvest season is from June to September. The best known is Tainan’s Zuozhen District, where the land is chalky and saline and the topsoil is easily washed away by heavy rains. Oddly enough, this creates an opportunity for the drought-tolerant pobuzi. Pobuzi seeds have been found in an “ash pit” in the Siraya cultural strata of the Niaosong Culture archeological site excavated at the Southern Taiwan Science Park, indicating that the Siraya indigenous people began eating pobuzi very early on. In addition, in the 1990s the Zuozhen Farmers’ Association produced a pobuzi cookbook and actively promoted this food, so that Zuozhen became synonymous with it.
Mu Cuiling, an instructor in the association’s Extension Section, notes that when pobuzi is harvested, they first select a branch and cut it from the tree, then strip the leaves off the branch, and clip off the fruits one by one. After bringing the harvested fruits home, the fruits must first be washed and blanched by simmering them in water for two to three hours, until the pectin all dissolves out. Next, they are flavored with salt and pressed into small bowls to mold them into cakes, or they can be directly put into jars with black bean soy sauce or rock candy added.
Besides Taiwanese of Southern Fujian ancestry and the Siraya people, the Hakka also have a tradition of consuming pobuzi. The Hakka music group Sheng Xiang and Band even has a song whose title is the Hakka word for this food. The song depicts a woman working on her own to harvest and pickle pobuzi.
It is especially noteworthy that only Taiwanese consume pobuzi as a food. In an article entitled “Who Were the First People to Eat Pobuzi?” the writer Ku Piling mentions that when she discussed this question with botanist Kuo Chen-meng (known as the “godfather of ferns”), he mentioned that pobuzi grows wild in India, along the coast of Guangdong in China, and in the Philippines, but in none of these places was it developed into a part of dietary culture. Yet in Taiwan, located in the tropics and possessing many relict species that have survived from the Ice Age, people have done so. He surmises that when humans first came to Taiwan, there may not have been many edible plants, so people who lived along the coast pickled pobuzi in brine. Not only did this eliminate the astringent flavor, the pectin that dissolved out of the fruits helped them stick together, making this food easier to carry.
Although there is as yet no scientific or archeological evidence to answer the question of who first at pobuzi, this mystery undoubtedly adds a soupçon of additional flavor whenever we eat this food.
When pickling pobuzi, one can add various ingredients such as pineapple, garlic, or peanuts, according to taste.
(courtesy of Hsu Zong)
Pobuzi pressed into flat cakes is often paired with rice congee. (courtesy of Hsu Zong)
Steamed fish with pobuzi.