Ensaladang Suha

the Davao plate that follows the Filipino reflex for sour fruit: pink pomelo against tomato and onion, dressed with calamansi and a little bagoong so salt and ferment meet sweetness head on

Origin: Davao, Philippines

From the journey of Pomelo.

Suha, also lukban in the Bikol and Visayan regions, is the Filipino pomelo, and Davao on Mindanao has become the centre of its cultivation. Filipino varieties tend to the deep pink and red flesh that Chinese and Thai cultivars mostly lack, and the fruit is sold peeled and bagged on street corners throughout the growing districts. The treatment here follows a reflex that runs through the entire archipelago: sour fruit is eaten with salt, and preferably with something fermented. Green mango with bagoong is the most familiar instance, and the same pairing is applied to santol, to unripe guava, and to this. Bagoong is fermented shrimp or fish paste, pungent and intensely savoury, and against sweet-sour fruit it does what anchovy does in a Mediterranean salad: it supplies depth and salt without reading as fish. What is striking, having followed the pomelo across seven points, is that the same solution keeps being arrived at independently. Bangkok puts fish sauce on it, Guangdong puts dried flounder in with the braised pith, Kuala Lumpur pounds dried shrimp into the kerabu, Bengal salts it hard and adds mustard, and Davao stirs in bagoong. Five cuisines with no particular contact over this fruit all concluded that a large mild sweet-sour citrus wants salt and fermented protein against it. That is not tradition being copied; it is the same discovery made repeatedly.

Ingredients

Salad

  • 1 large pomelo (suha), preferably pink-fleshed
  • 2 medium tomatoes, firm, cut into wedges
  • 1 small red onion, sliced paper-thin
  • 1 handful coriander leaves, roughly torn
  • 2 whole long green chillies (siling haba), sliced

Dressing

  • 4 tbsp calamansi juice, or half lime and half orange juice
  • 1.5 tbsp bagoong alamang (fermented shrimp paste)
  • 1 tbsp coconut vinegar
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground

Method

  1. Quarter the pomelo rind from top to bottom, pull away the rind and thick pith, and peel the membrane from every segment. Break the flesh into loose clusters.
  2. Slice the onion paper-thin, rinse under cold water, and pat dry.
  3. Whisk the bagoong with the calamansi juice, vinegar, sugar, and pepper until smooth.
  4. Arrange the pomelo, tomato, onion, and chilli on a wide plate and spoon the dressing over rather than tossing.
  5. Scatter with coriander and serve at once, at room temperature.

Notes

Calamansi is the small sour Filipino citrus and has no exact substitute; half lime and half orange juice is the usual approximation. Bagoong alamang is the shrimp version and is what this wants; where it is unavailable, use a teaspoon of Thai shrimp paste or two of fish sauce, though the character is different. For a vegetarian version, use light soy with a little miso, which supplies comparable fermented depth. Grilled or fried fish is the natural partner, and the salad is also served alongside grilled pork belly. Eat within the half hour; it weeps and softens quickly.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

Mapping Culinary History

To explore — select an ingredient below.

Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
© 2026 The Gastrographer. All original research, narratives, and illustrations. All rights reserved.