What is a Kamias?

I am sure you guys nowadays still see Kamias in local markets. This is one of the natural ingredients used in cooking “paksiw” by most pinoys. It is mostly used in foods such as relish and pickled foods. It can be substituted for vinegar, used in juices like lemonade, or even combined with large amounts of sugar to make jams.

Well we (Filipinos) call it Kamias. In English, it is known as the cucumber or sorrel tree. This tropical tree is found naturally in Asia, and its fruit is used both for cooking and traditional medicine by others due to its acidity in its content. It belongs to a family of a Starfruit which is sweeter than Kamias, so it also provides certain amounts of vitamins and minerals.

Back when I was teen and living in our province, we have its tree in our backyard. We would even harvest its fruits and would sell them in nearby markets for (P2) Two Pesos a basket (around 5 kg). It’s hard but it was enjoying to have some sorts of income in addition to my “baon”.

One thing that I remembered for its use was, whenever you find any stain in your clothes, this fruit is one of the best stain-remover because of its acidity. Just rub it on a stained area and leave the cloth unwashed for a certain period of time and rinse afterwards, then viola! You had just naturally removed the stain. Though its strength is not comparable to commercially available stain remover, but it’s kind of helpful during urgent times.

What are other uses of Kamias do you know? If you have some ideas on its use, we are grateful to hear them from you, please leave your comments below.