The Serumpun Codex · Fruits, nuts, seeds and fungi
Buah kulim
A forest fruit that smells of garlic and is cooked in its place.
The entry
- Name
- Buah kulim
- Other names
- Bawang hutan; jungle garlic; sedau (Murut, Sabah)
- Scientific name
- Scorodocarpus borneensis (Baill.) Becc.
- What it is
- A forest fruit that smells of garlic and is cooked in its place.
- How it is used
- The garlic-scented fruit is cooked in place of garlic; the leaves are eaten as a vegetable.
- In the French Borneo kitchen
- In the prawn bisque of Course V, Sea, at Osaka, for its earthy note of garlic and truffle.
- Season and place
- In Borneo it usually fruits from June to September. It grows scattered in primary rainforest up to about 600 m, occasionally 900 m.
- Conservation status
- Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (2024 assessment).
- Codex Alimentarius
- No Codex standard
- Medicinal knowledge
- Held privately by the community
- Consent
- Given, recorded by CHASS, 30 October 2026
Still to be confirmed: whose knowledge it is and who shared it with Serumpun.
Sources
- World Flora Online
- Wiart et al., 2023
- PROSEA 5(3), Scorodocarpus, via Pl@ntUse
- de Kok, R., Scorodocarpus borneensis, IUCN Red List 2024 (doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-1.RLTS.T33256A67807585.en), as served by GBIF
Added to the Codex on 1 November 2026. Sources last checked on 1 November 2026.
Anyone may cook with this knowledge, commercially too, provided the community it comes from is credited by name. To correct or withdraw this entry, write to the Custodian at connect@chefjameswon.com.
How to cite this entry
Serumpun Sarawak (2026) ‘Buah kulim’, The Serumpun Codex, ed. James Won. Available at: https://www.chefjameswon.com/serumpun/codex/buah-kulim/ (sources checked 1 November 2026).
Quote any entry with this citation, and name the community whose knowledge it is.