Jering fruits are delicious but dangerous

Jering fruits are delicious and are eaten at meal. In Kelatan, the fruits were steam and eaten with coconut meat. It’s simply delicious.

                           Steam Jering

Jering is native in Southeast Asia and the Botanical name is Archidendron pauciflorum, commonly known as Jengkol, Dogfruit, or Jering. It is a species of flowering tree in the pea family called Fabaceae. 

It grows wild and the fruit is a legume twisted in a spiral which is 5 cm wide, purplish brown in color. The edible cotyledons are yellowish when young but orange brown when mature.

Despite its strong smell, “Jering” are a popular food in Malaysia. Traditionally the medicinal values are extolled for treating diabetes, high blood pressure and eliminating bladder stones.

However, the Singapore Medical Journal, the Asian Journal of Surgery, American Journal of Kidney Diseases, etc has been reported that Jering can cause acute kidney failure which can lead to life-long morbidity or even death.