Issue No 6, July 1996.

NOTICE: Hard copies of the Australian New Crops Newsletter are available from the publisher, Dr Rob Fletcher. Details of availability are included in the Advice on Publications Available.

12. Exotic and Asian produce, Flemington Markets, Sydney

The Flemington Market Reporting Service reports on the prices of a range of exotic and Asian products each week for subscribers. The products covered are those whose quantities are too small to be covered by the standard price reporting system. However, they are becoming increasingly important to the market, as tastes of consumers widen. The produce covered by this service are listed below. Details of the Price Reporting Service can be obtained from the FMRS, NSW Agriculture, PO Box 139, Flemington Markets, NSW 2129.

Common name	Botanical name	Description		Growing environment	Culinary use		Price Range, 1995 A$, unit
Abiu	Pouteria caimito	Sweet succulent fruit, creamy white flesh, delicious when eaten chilled		Tropical, subtropical, warm and humid	Fresh, fruit salad		14-20, box
Babaco	Carica pentagona	Aromatic juicy flesh, skin edible		Cooler subtropical, frost free	Fruit salad, preserved, juice		6-10, tray
Banana flower	Musa spp.	Male flower of banana		As for bananas	Marinated for salad in Chinese cuisine, stir fry		6-12, box
Banana leaves	Musa spp.	Young tender leaves		As for bananas	Wrapping steamed rice, dumplings etc. for Yum Cha		2-3, kg
Bitter melon	Momordica charantia	Cucurbit fruit, light green skinned, rough ridges		Temperate, warm ripening period	Stir fry		20-30, 10kg box
Bok choy, Chinese chard	Brassica rapa var chinensis	Chard-like leafy vegetable		Temperate	Stir fry, long soup		5-7, dozen
Gai lum, Chinese broccoli	Brassica oleracea var alboglabra	Leafy vegetable, crisp dark leaves, small florets		Temperate	Stir fry, soup, steam with oyster sauce		8-15, dozen
Choi sum, Chinese flowering cabbage	Brassica rapa var pekinensis	Leafy vegetable, tender bright green leaves, yellow flowers		Temperate	Steamed vegetable, stir fry		5-8, dozen
Curry leaves, Hindi kitha neem	Murraya koenigii		Strong aromatic leaves, sold dried or fresh	Tropical, subtropical		Enhances curry flavour	6-20, kg
Durian	Durio zibethinus		Large olive green fruit with spiky skin and distinctive smell	Tropical		fresh fruit, steamed	6-10, kg
Carambola	Averrhoa carambola		Distinctive yellow-skinned fruit with five wings	Tropical, subtropical, some frost tolerance once mature		Fresh, fruit salad, preserved	5-16, tray
Galangal	Alpinia galanga		Aromatic root, sometimes hot in taste	Tropical		Sliced or as a paste in Thai and SE Asian cooking	4-6, kg
Gow choi, Garlic chives	Allium tuberosum		Chive-like herb with dark green leaves, garlic aroma	Temperate		Chopped, flavour for omelettes, stir fry, salads	5-6, dozen
Daikon, giant white radish	Raphanus sativus var longipinnatus		Large radish with clean white skin and flesh, mild taste	Temperate		Cooked with meat, pickled, grated as salad	0.70-1.50, bunch
Jackfruit	Artocarpus heterophyllus		Massive fruit, olive green lumpy skin	Tropical lowlands		Sweet fruit when mature, and boiled, fried, chipped or roasted as vegetable when immature	1-4, kg
Kaffir lime leaves	Citrus histrix		Small shiny citrus leaves	Tropical, subtropical		Thai cooking	40-55, kg
Lemon grass	Cymbopogon citratus		Long pointed leaves in a cluster, white bulbous base	Tropical, subtropical		Base of leaves as flavouring	1.50-3.50, kg
Longan	Euphoria longan		Small round, yellow-brown leathery skin, grow in clusters	Subtropical, temperate		Fresh fruit	3-12, kg
Mangosteen	Garcinia mangostana		Round purple-black skinned fruit, 4-8 white-fleshed segments	Equatorial or tropical		Fresh fruit	40-50, box
White sapote	Casimiroa edulis		Round green-skinned fruit, yellow or creamy-white flesh	Subtropical to warm temperate		Fresh or milk shakes and ice-cream	4-8, tray
Sin-qua	Luffa cylindrica or Luffa acutangula		Long cucurbit vegetable, smooth or angle-shaped skin	Temperate		Stir fry, soup	2-4, kg
Tamarind	Tamarindus indica		Large dark brown seedpods, shiny dark seeds	Tropical		Curries, chutneys, preserves	2-4, kg
Fijian taro	Xanthosoma sp.		Round to oblong roots up to 15 cm in width, darkish skin	Tropical to subtropical wetland margins		Staple carbohydrate in parts of SE Asia and Pacific	2-4.50, kg
Samoan taro	Colocasia sp.		Massive round pointed roots, light brown skin, darker patches	Tropical to subtropical wetland margins, well watered flats		Staple carbohydrate in parts of SE Asia and Pacific	3-5, kg
Turmeric/ yellow ginger	Curcuma longa		Yellow fleshed root	Tropical to subtropical		Turmeric as spice, Yellow ginger as Chinese flavour	4-7.50, kg

Any claims made by authors in the Australian New Crops Newsletter are presented by the Editors in good faith. Readers would be wise to critically examine the circumstances associated with any claims to determine the applicability of such claims to their specific set of circumstances. This material can be reproduced, with the provision that the source and the author (or editors, if applicable) are acknowledged and the use is for information or educational purposes. Contact with the original author is probably wise since the material may require updating or amendment if used in other publications. Material sourced from the Australian New Crops Newsletter cannot be used out of context or for commercial purposes not related to its original purpose in the newsletter

Contact: Dr Rob Fletcher, School of Land and Food, The University of Queensland Gatton College, 4345; Telephone: 07 5460 1311 or 07 5460 1301; Facsimile: 07 5460 1112; International facsimile: 61 7 5460 1112; Email: r.fletcher@mailbox.uq.edu.au

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originally created by: GK; latest update 6 June 1999 by: RF