About Pili
English Names: Pili nut (also spelled as Pilinut), Philippine nut
(Canarium ovatum and C. luzonicum -- Family Burseraceae)
This strange nut is fairly unheard of outside of the Philippines and though commonly referred to as a nut, it is botanically a drupe. The Pili nut is native to the Philippines, mainly in the Bicol region and eastern Visayas, and is very difficult to buy outside of the area
The Canarium trees, from which the Pili nut comes from, are an evergreen that is similar to the American Spruce in leaf shape and size. Canarium trees are are also grown as an ornamental tree and the Pili nuts grown outside of the Philippines are typically used to make jewelry or other arts. There are no known commercial farms of Pili trees in the Philippines. Pili nuts are harvested from wild stands of Canarium trees.
They have the highest oil content of any nut (well over 70%) and are comparable to almonds in texture, taste, and uses. After removal of testa the oily "Pili" nuts (seeds) eaten raw or roasted, may be used as an almond substitute, eaten in Sri Lanka as a dessert nut, made into bread in the Celebes, highly esteemed in Melanesia where several races are cultivated; a strained emulsion of crushed, well-ripened seeds may be used as milk substitute for infants. Seed oil is used as a substitute for and usually preferred to coconut oil for cooking; fresh seed oil mixed with food.
The Pili fruit itself is a drupe, similar to a date, and the Pili nut is in the center, shaped like an almond. The fruit itself is covered with a thin tough black skin that is shiny and smooth, the fruit inside is bright green and fibrous pulp. The pulp of the Pili fruit can be eaten and is considered a delicacy in the Bicol region of the Philippines. To eat the fruit, first blanch the Pili and peel off the thin skin, the Filipino people will than dip the fruit in a fish sauce and scrape the pulp off the the seed with their teeth, than discarding the seed.
About Xonuts
Our soon-to-be launched line of exotic Pili nut snacks combined with our healthy and flavorful Coco Palm Sugar.
