Food & Receipts

Uncommon Green-skinned Fruit with Red Flesh, Now Available for Sale at 300,000 VND/kg

The tangy flavor of this fruit enhances the taste of dishes. However, it is currently a rare delicacy that is not easily available for purchase.

Administrator

10 December, 2023

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Chay fruit is a popular fruit that is grown in the Northern Delta region. In the past, people grew it for its peel and roots to eat or for medicinal use. The fruit has a sour taste, and when it is ripe, it is fragrant and delicious. It is often used to make sour soup or fish stew.

According to Eastern medicine, chay fruit has a sour taste and a neutral nature. It helps to cool down the body, detoxify, and is good for the digestive system and stimulates appetite.

Previously, chay fruit used to fall abundantly but was not very popular. Nowadays, this type of fruit has become a specialty, not available everywhere and not always easy to buy.

The price of chay fruit varies depending on the region. On average, its price ranges from 50,000 to 200,000 Vietnamese dong per kilogram. With sliced and dried chay fruit, the price can range from 250,000 to 300,000 Vietnamese dong per kilogram.

Chay fruit can be used to make many delicious dishes such as fish stew, sour soup, and bun (rice vermicelli). You can refer to the recipe below for making sour soup with this type of chay fruit.

Ingredients

– Carp fish: 500g (you can choose from carp, rohu, or mrigal fish, depending on your preference)

– Fresh chay fruit: 1-2 fruits or dried chay fruit

– Tomatoes: 2 fruits

– Green onions

– Coriander, dill

– Cooking oil

– Fish sauce, salt, monosodium glutamate

Instructions

– After buying the Carp fish, clean it, remove the gills and internal organs, scrape off the dark membrane in the fish’s belly to reduce the fishy smell. Then, rub salt on the fish’s body, rinse it with water, pat it dry, and fry until the fish turns golden on both sides. Depending on your preference, you can either fry it slightly or leave the fish fresh.

– Rinse the fresh chay fruit, slice it into bite-sized pieces and soak it in a bowl of water with vinegar to remove the sap. Do not slice it too thin as it will lose its delicious taste, and if sliced too thick, it will take a long time to ripe. Wash the herbs, cut them into pieces. After rinsing the tomatoes, remove their cores.

– Heat the cooking oil and sauté the green onions until fragrant, then add the tomatoes and stir-fry. Then, add 2 bowls of water, cover and boil.

– When the soup boils again, add the fried fish and fresh chay fruit. Cover and cook until the fish soup boils for about 20-30 minutes, then season with fish sauce and monosodium glutamate to taste.

– When the fish is cooked, add the green onions, coriander, and dill, and simmer for about 5 minutes, then turn off the heat. Note that the dill takes longer to cook, so you need to cook it thoroughly to avoid having a strong, unpleasant smell.

– Scoop the fish into a bowl and pour the hot soup on top. Enjoy!

Sour soup with chay fruit has a delicious aroma. The fish meat is tender, fragrant, and rich. The soup has a refreshing sour taste characteristic of chay fruit, and the flavors of various spices stimulate the taste buds.