Pili Nuts

Native to the Philippines, the pili nut is abundant and grows wild in many southern provinces, including Luzon, Mindanao and Visayas.

When raw, the pili nut is said by many to resemble the flavor of roasted pumpkin or pepita seeds, and when roasted, the pili nut's mild, nutty flavor and tender-crispy texture is superior to that of the common almond. A perfect example would be a cross between a macadamia nut and a marcona almond.

Besides from being eaten raw or roasted, pili nuts are also used in chocolate, ice cream, candies and baked goods as well.

The largest buyers of pili nuts outside of the Philippines are in Hong Kong and Taiwan. There the pili nut is one of the major ingredients in a famous Chinese dessert known as "moon cake".

Aside from being a treat for your taste buds, the pili nut is also a nutritional treat for your body. Nutritionally, the pili nut is high in calcium, phosphorus, and potassium, and rich in fats and protein.

Pili nuts are also rich in oil. They yield a light yellow oil consisting mainly of oleic glycerides and palmitic acids (60:40 percent respectively), very similar to olive oil.

Unfortunately, unless you live in the Philippines, pili nuts can be extremely hard to find. With the extremely hard shell encasing the pili nut, most commercial plantations do not see the value of the nut. Therefore, most of the pili nut trees grow wild rather than in plantations, making the harvesting of the nut erratic and limited.

As new breeds are being introduced with easier to access fruit and new devices are invented for the opening of the pili nut, the future of the pili nut definitely looks bright.

One downside: that wonderful, bountiful, nutritional oil that makes up the pili nut also causes it to spoil rather quickly. Any nuts found outside of the Philippines would more than likely already be preserved with salt or sugar.

For recipes calling for pili nuts, try using marcona almonds.