There’s a certain thrill I never outgrew.
It happens every time I spot siniguelas (Spanish plum or red plum for others) lined up on a market stall. It’s not just a fruit. Not for us Filipinos.
It’s a piece of childhood wrapped in red skin and memories.
I remember those summer afternoons with my cousins when we’d sit with legs crossed on the floor, daring each other to bite the sourest one without flinching. We'd dip siniguelas in rock salt like it was candy. Then came the squints, the twisted mouths, the chorus of laughter that made the sour worth it.
Is it rare? Not exactly, but it’s seasonal, and that makes it special! A warm-month miracle that shows up briefly like old friends dropping by. It usually arrives from March to May. Blink, then it’s gone!
If you live in the province, you might find a tree just outside your door. If you’re in the city, it’s a treasure hunt. You scan fruit stalls with a kind of hope only nostalgia can teach you. And when you finally find it? You buy too much…not just to eat but to remember.
There’s a ritual to how we eat siniguelas. Wash. Roll. Salt. Bite. React. Repeat.
The first bite shocks your face into funny shapes, but nobody minds because siniguelas isn’t just about flavor. It’s about a feeling: the kind that’s hard to put into words but easy to recognize in a shared smile.
It gathers people around bowls, stories, and childhood flashbacks; around laughter that tastes a little like home.
What most people don’t know is that this tiny fruit is actually packed with nutrients: fiber for digestion, vitamin C for your immune system, and antioxidants for cell repair. It’s even used in traditional medicine for urinary and stomach relief.
But honestly, none of that crosses our minds when we eat it.
We don’t think about wellness charts while we giggle at someone’s puckered face or pick up spilled salt from the floor. We eat siniguelas not for health but for wholeness. The kind that doesn’t come from vitamins but from being with people who remember you before you grew up.
I sometimes wonder, maybe we hold on to fruits like siniguelas because they hold on to us.
They remind us to pause, to gather, to feel full even before the first bite.
In a world that rushes toward everything, this little fruit quietly teaches us how to slow down.
It simply brings us back to our childhood memories: the shared sour smiles, the quiet laughter, and that small act of reaching for one more.
In those moments, we remember: siniguelas has its magic!
