Dragon fruit (Thanh Long)
Green dragon is the name of a newly cultivated fruit. It is rather big, weighs from 200 to 500 grams, and has pink or dark-red colour. The ripe fruit looks like the kohlrabi cabbage and has an oval shape.
When ripe, the fruit peels as easily as a banana. Its pulp is white and gelatinous. The pulp contains many seeds that cannot be extracted. The seeds taste like cactus, giving the fruit a sweet and sour taste.
Before 1945, green dragon fruits were not sold in southern markets. It is said that Americans brought green dragon fruits to the south. From Phan Thiet to Nha Trang or from Ninh Hoa to Buon Ma Thuot, bushes of green dragon fruits can be seen climbing to tree trunks in gardens and even on doors.
Different from any other southern fruit, its harvest season is particular; fruits become available in markets in October, November, April, and May. They are more expensive in October and April, since there are smaller quantities available.
Vietnam has many kinds of persimmon such as my with yellow fruit and cado with small fruit. Persimmon is famous for providing a lot of sugar and vitamin A. Persimmon fruits contain as much vitamin C as oranges and tangerines, and their pulp does not have a sour taste.
Persimmon can be either round or in the shape of a heart. Persimmon fruits are divided into two kinds: bitter and sweet. When bitter persimmon fruits are green and hard, they are edible, but their ripe fruits can be eaten and are very sweet. The fruits of sweet persimmon are always sweet, even when green and hard.
In the north, persimmon is widely grown; the most popular varieties include Lang persimmon in Lang Son and Hac persimmon in Hac Tri. In the south, persimmon can be planted only in the highland of Da Lat.
In Oriental medicine, persimmon is considered effective to reduce high blood pressure and relieve abdominal pain. Persimmon trees can be trimmed into ornamental trees. When their leaves fall down, fruits still hang on over the branches.
Thieu is the name dedicated to a special kind of litchi grown in Hai Duong Province. The Thieu Litchi is a bit bigger than the longan. Unlike the skin of the longan, which is rather smooth, the dark red skin of the litchi is rough and rippled.The meat of the litchi is transparent white, but is thicker and juicier than that of a longan. The litchi seed is also smaller than the longan seed.
Pineapple (Qua dua)
Pineapple plants are widely grown in the country. The peak ripening time for this tropical fruit coincides with summer when the hours of sunshine are longer. People in southern Vietnam usually call this tropical fruit trai thom (fragrant fruit), which is literally a precise quote for the fruit since anyone who takes the first bite can surely feel the strong sweet smell that flows into their nostrils. Since the smell of pineapples lingers longer than that of some other fruits, connoisseurs find it hard to forget.
Pineapples are processed into different products such as canned pineapple, pineapple liquor, sweet preserved pineapple liquor, and sweet preserved pineapple. There is also a special juicy drink that exists only in pineapple growing areas. Growers press the fruit into a juice which is then mixed with the yoke of a hen's egg before being thoroughly stirred together to become a muddy drink. The drink is said to be very sweet, creamy, and nutritious.
No better word than marvelous can be used to praise the tropical fruit with the name Vu Sua (milk from the breast). Upon entering an orchard of star apple trees, the most famous located in Can Tho Province in the Mekong River Delta, visitors can see for themselves the hundreds of star apples hanging suspended from branches. The round and smooth fruits are all of equal size. The shape of the star apple matches the name attached to it, as does its juice which is fragrantly sweet and milky white as the milk from the breast.
If visitors are unfamiliar to the region, they can be guided by locals on how to enjoy the fruit. A novice will certainly take a sharp knife and peel the fruit, which may cause the precious juice inside to be wastefully dripped. When using a knife to cut the fruit, it is advisable to cut the fruit into two parts before using a spoon to take out the pulp, bit by bit, until nothing is left.
The most popular way to enjoy the fruit by orchard owners is to eat the whole fruit. People tend to drill a small hole at the top of the fruit, lift it to their mouths, lean their heads backward, and continuously suck the flow of the fragrant juice into the mouths as a baby sucking milk from its mother's breast. One thing you should remember before taking in the juice is that you must squeeze the tough fruit until it becomes tendered so that the juice can mix with the meat of the fruit to become a sweet and fragrant muddy substance that looks like breast milk.
You may wonder why this fruit has to bear such an austere name as "sau rieng" (one's own sorrows). If you are curious enough, let's travel to the orchard province in southern Vietnam where the locals are likely to recite to you the immortal love story.
Long ago, there lived a young couple in the region. Because of social prejudices that could not be overcome, the couple had to find their death in order to be faithful in their love for each other. Their own sorrows had received the populace's sympathies, and the story of their tragedy has been handed down from generation to generation. To commemorate the couple, the locals have named one of their most valuable fruits sau rieng.
Durian is an expensive fruit. One Durian fruit is five to six times larger than a Mangosteen. It's skin is thick, rough, and covered with sharp thorns. With a gentle cut between the edges of the outer shell, you can easily open the fruit to see the layers of bright yellow segments of meat that make the pulp look like it is covered with a thin layer of butter.
Literature writer Mai Van Tao once wrote about the particularly good smell of the Durian. He writes, "The dense fragrance which spreads near and far, lingers a long time before disappearing. The strong smell can go straight to your nostrils, even though you are still several metres away from the fruit. The fragrance of Durian is a mixture of smells which come from a ripening jackfruit and that of a shaddock. It can also be compared to the strong smell of foreign-made cheese and is rich as that of a hen's egg. Others describe the fruit as sweet as that of well-kept honey. All things considered, Durian has a special tempting smell.Those who have not enjoyed the fruit before could find it hard to eat. But once they have tried it, they are likely to seek it."
Mango (Qua xoai)
Mangoes, xoai in the Vietnamese language, are grown in most southern provinces. The most reputed mangoes come from Cao Lanh District in Dong Thap Province.
Mangoes are divided into several kinds, known locally as xoai cat, xoai tuong, xoai xiem and xoai ngua to cite just a few. The fine mangoes are xoai cat. This type of fruit has a brighter yellow peel, a rounder shape, and weighs as much 0,5 kilograms. The meat is considered more sweeter and more fragrant than that of other varieties.
Source: Vietscape/Vietnamtourism
