Mamon chino fruit

This afternoon I stopped to pick up a pineapple from my favourite Piña Hombre in Coronado and found this amazing-looking fruit. In Spanish this fruit is called ‘mamón chino‘, which directly translated means ‘Chinese sucker’. However, the English name for it is rambutan, which is derived from a Malaysian word which means “hairy”.  At first I thought it was lichee fruit, but apparently the two are ‘cousins’. The spiky part on the outside of the fruit is actually fairly soft – which is why it is called hairy I suppose. When the outer part is peeled away, the inside looks exactly like its cousin the lichee, but has a slightly sweeter taste.