It was in June 2020 when my friend/ex-student, Alex dropped by my house to give me a pineapple, a 2.5 kg nanas sawit. According to another ex-student of mine, currently in the fruit business in Kuching, this is the best variety when it comes to pineapples.
I took the crown – the spikes/leaves on top and planted that part of the fruit. Later, I heard that I would have to wait for two years before I would get to see any fruit and true enough, in May this year, after 1 year and 11 months, a little fruit FINALLY appeared. Earlier this month, we noticed that it had grown too big, so big that the plant could not support it and we had to tie strings to hold it up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t ready yet for the plucking.
Well, the other day, after all this time, way over two years, the time came and my missus went and harvested the fruit…
It had not turned completely yellow/orange but my missus was afraid that if we waited much longer, it might over-ripen and go bad inside.
Usually, when I buy pineapples from the shops, I would ask the seller to peel them for me. I don’t know if he/she will charge me for that or not – I never asked. I just happily paid the total amount before grabbing it and taking it home. I guess I did not have a choice so I had to peel it myself!
Firstly, I cut off the crown…
No, I did not bother planting that, lesson learnt! I sure would not want to wait another two years to get to enjoy the fruit.
Next, while holding on to the stump, I peeled off the skin…
…after which I cut crevices/ridges in the fruit to get rid of the “eyes”…
Once done, the pineapple will look like this…
Lastly, after cutting off the stump, I sliced it up into long slices and removed the core…and then, I cut it further into smaller pieces…
Usually, we would eat it just like that or with rojak sauce (prawn paste) or use it to cook a dish…
It was so very sweet, especially the part that had turned orange/yellow.
I went and googled and found this about pineapples: “Kidney health is extremely important, and if you want to do everything you can to keep them functioning well, incorporating pineapple into your diet is a great way to start. This delicious fruit is packed with nutrients that are beneficial for kidney health, including vitamins C and B6, manganese, and Bromelain.” Needless to say, I ate a lot of the fruit of my labour and seeing that it is good for me, I shall be going out to buy more, that’s for sure.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I like pineapples, be it incorporating into the dish or eaten on its own. At last after 2 long years, you can enjoy your fruit of labour. So big and juicy. Usually when I buy, I will ask the seller to peel it for me. So far, over here, I know one place near my area that they do charge extra 50sen for this peeling service. I saw they use a type of gadgets which seem easy for taking out the eyes of the pineapples.
This neighbourhood shop always sells pre-peeled ones, dunno if they added the service charge or not.
I know one lady selling pineapples – she will peel also, no extra charge.
I bought once, she said RM5, I asked her to peel…and she did, still RM5.00.
I’d rather pay the 50 sen – not easy peeling pineapples!!!
What a beauty! But such a long wait, but worth it as it turned out big and beautiful. I love pineapples and I like to sprinkle with a bit of salt before eating.
I regret planting it now because it was so nice and I’ve bought two since…and each time, I felt like just throwing them away. Came nowhere near my own!!!
Why not plant it again… hahaha.. two years only after all.. I love pineapples too especially with fish curry or cooked with chicken or any meat… very appetizing..
Two years was like forever and the plant was HUGE and the sharp thorny leaves would poke you everytime we went near. OUCH!!!
Congratulations! Your first pineapple fruit from your own garden. If you have space in your garden, you can plant it and leave it to grow in one corner since the fruit is so sweet. I love pineapples, eaten by itself or cooked. Now, your pineapple pictures are making me drool.
Yes, it was really good, so very sweet but two years is way too long for me to wait!!! In the meantime, my missus kept threatening to get rid of it – she did not like being poked by the sharp leaves!!!
I was hoping you’re going to plant it again and see if it takes another 2 years!
I wish I had because I’ve been buying from outside since and it has been one disappointment after another. So pissed off!!!
Oh, I’ve had some delicious pineapples from Sarawak but I don’t recall the variety.
Now I have a problem. Never mind what variety I buy from the shops, none is as nice as the one I planted myself, so very very sweet. Too bad there was only one.