Q: I have a lot of belimbing from my garden and have tried to make sambal with it but the mix ended up watery. How can we not have too much water from the fruit when we fry it with taucheo (fermented soya beans), garlic and chillies?

Gina Tan

A: You lucky gardener. Belimbing, a small, gherkin-shaped cousin of the starfruit, is used in many South-east Asian cuisines for its sour, refreshing taste.

The ripe fruit is very juicy. To get rid of some of the water, slice it into discs and sprinkle generously with salt, then let it stand for 20 to 30 minutes.

Squeeze the slices dry, rinse well to remove the salt, then squeeze dry again. This also helps to get rid of some of the fruit's mouth-puckering astringency.

When you fry the sambal, don't cook the belimbing for more than a few minutes or it will become pulpy. For a change, add the finely chopped fruit (with or without salting it first) to sambal belacan just before serving. This makes a good topping for fried fish.

You can also use it in soups that need a sour kick - Filipino sinigang, kiam chye ark or tom yam. Halve or slice a few belimbing and simmer them in the soup for 10 minutes. Leave them as they are or mash them into the broth.