Syzygium jambos

CHOM PHU / ROSE APPLE The rose apple is a small pear-shaped fruit native to South East Asia (e.g. Thailand, Malaysia). In Thai, it is called chom-phu (or chompoo, comphu) and the reddish variety from Malaysia are called Malay apples in English.

It consists of a thin, waxy skin; a core filled with inedible fluff and a flesh that is a bit softer than that of an apple’s. The taste is, as some people say, ‘a cross between an apple and a watermelon, with a slightly bitter after taste’.

The pale green rose apple native to Thailand grows all year round. Malay apples, along with the other varieties that have a darker red skin, grow seasonally.