‘Hello! No need to come out! We are leaving some rambutans outside for you! Yellow ones!’

It’s a typical start to a June day at the height of the rambutan season in Singapore. At Chen Mansion we have several rambutan trees, but everyone is sure their own trees produce the best fruit.

And, of course, the relatively rare yellow rambutans—like the huge bunch left on our front porch by neighbours this morning—are the most prized of all.

‘Can I eat them now, Su Lin?’ Little Ling asks me.

‘Of course. Let me peel some for you,’

‘No! I want to eat them like Papa!’ Little Ling mimes how her father, my Uncle Chen, would split the fruit’s thin hairy red skin to suck out its sweet flesh—like he swallows soft cooked eggs out of their shells. But unlike liquid golden egg yolk, the large woody seeds hidden in the sweet juicy rambutan flesh are a choking hazard— ‘I’m a big girl, I can!’

Her lip juts out; the sign of an incipient tantrum. Little Ling has been acting out since her parents started quarrelling, just as disagreements between locals and our returning British overlords have led to an increase in petty crime and political unrest. I can’t do anything about Uncle Chen and his wife’s business worries or the new British colonial office needing to generate revenue for Britain versus our people needing food and medicine, but I do what I can to sort out the little problems that come my way.

‘I know you can,’ I say, ‘But I need to peel and seed them for Ah Ma so that she doesn’t choke. Do you think you’re big enough to help me peel them in strips?’

‘What? Oh, of course! I’m very good at peeling strips!’

Some people are willing do for others what they wouldn’t do for themselves—and I like them better than those who are the exact opposite!

‘And I need to cut out the seeds to make soap,’

‘I also want to make soap,’

Little Ling helps me peel the rambutans and collect the seeds on a banana leaf to be boiled down. There’s oil and wax in the seeds that can be used to make soap and candles. Even though the war is over, our economy is still struggling. With few imports allowed, it looks like we’ll be making do for some time. That’s why a bunch of rambutans is more than a sweet dessert.

The fruit isn’t just delicious, it’s ‘cooling’ and used to treat fevers and other symptoms of heatiness. The essence from the boiled down peel is said to be good for digestive disorders as well as ‘female’ problems. That’s why you’ll often see strips of rambutan strung up to dry.

Some people roast the rambutan seeds and say they have a slightly bitter nutty taste and are good eating if you like almonds. But if you don’t roast them enough they can be poisonous—and like another compound that smells of bitter almonds, eating them could kill you.

I’d rather not take such a risk, but I’m well aware not everyone here feels the same way…

The Yellow Rambutan Tree Mystery, A Crown Colony Mystery Book #6
Genre: Historical
Release: June 2023
Format: Digital, Print (September 12)
Purchase Link

The War may be over but Su Lin’s troubles are returning – along with the British – to Singapore…

When two of Uncle Chen’s associates come visiting Chen Mansion on the third day of Chinese New Year – an unlucky date in the Chinese calendar – Su Lin doesn’t let them in. Not just because of the taboo, but because her uncle has been unwell. But the bad luck has clearly followed them as one of them is soon discovered outside the house, dead, with a strip of dried yellow rambutan peel in his mouth. And the other associate has gone missing.

Could this have anything to do with the recent British ban on opium consumption? Singapore is only just adjusting to the return of British rule and the authorities suspect the dead man was killed for threatening to expose the Chens for processing and distributing the drug. And as Su Lin adjusts to the return of Le Froy to Singapore, being Parshanti’s bridesmaid and figuring out why scraps of yellow rambutan peel keep showing up around the mansion, she is forced to think about whether she has a future in the Chen family – and in the new, post-Second World War Singapore…

About the author
Ovidia Yu is a Singapore based writer of Singapore based mysteries. Her ‘tree’ books, The Mimosa Tree Mystery, The Mushroom Tree Mystery, The Yellow Rambutan Tree Mystery, etc. are historical mysteries and her ‘Aunty’ books, Aunty Lee’s Delights and Aunty Lee’s Chilled Revenge, etc. are contemporary foodie mysteries. She loves reading, dogs, plants, is trying to learn yoga and is looking forward to attending her first post-Covid Bouchercon this year!

All comments are welcomed.