The Ultimate Country Treasure: A Tasty Treat Turned Urban Delicacy.

The people of Thanh Chuong in Nghe An, Vietnam, are busy these days harvesting a unique and relatively unknown fruit called ‘quả sông.’ This fruit is a crucial ingredient that adds a distinct sourness to various local dishes.

According to the Nghe An newspaper, the ‘quả sông’ tree belongs to the mangosteen family and can be found scattered across several districts in Nghe An province, with the highest concentration in Thanh Chuong district, particularly in communes such as Thanh My, Thanh Duc, Hanh Lam, and Phong Thinh.

The ‘quả sông’ tree is a long-living woody plant that grows naturally in the forest. During the season, locals often pick the fruit to cook sour soup or braised fish. In the hot summer months, adding ‘quả sông’ to a soup creates a delicious and refreshing sour dish.

Nowadays, many locals have brought ‘quả sông’ trees to their home gardens. However, it takes a long time for the tree to bear fruit, ranging from seven to nine years.

The ‘quả sông’ fruit resembles an guava in shape and weighs between 0.3 kg and 1.2 kg. When ripe, the fruit boasts a vibrant yellow color. Interestingly, the ripe ‘quả sông’ fruit can be easily separated into small pieces with a gentle force, almost as if it were pre-cut. Inside, the fruit has a sweet and sour taste, with a delicious flavor comparable to mangosteen. However, consuming too much of it can cause a feeling of intoxication.

The flesh of the ‘quả sông’ fruit has a distinctive sourness and is commonly used as a cooking ingredient, added to sour soups, or preserved in sugar or honey to make refreshing drinks, offering health benefits.

Mr. Tung, a resident of Phong Thinh commune in Thanh Chuong district, shared that the ‘quả sông’ tree is not only found in the forest but also cultivated in home gardens to provide shade and sell the fruit. After about seven to nine years of planting, the tree starts bearing fruit.

Summer, from May to August, is the harvest season for ‘quả sông.’ When ripe, the fruit turns a beautiful golden yellow. The ‘quả sông’ tree grows tall with a wide canopy, making the harvesting process quite challenging. Harvesters have to climb from branch to branch and use a pole with a net to pick the fruit. The harvested fruit is then placed in bags hung from the branches and carefully lowered to the ground using a rope. This task requires dexterity and courage, and only those skilled in tree climbing can perform it.

Mr. Tung added that each mature ‘quả sông’ tree could yield between three and five hundred kilograms of fruit, while high-yielding trees could produce up to six to seven hundred kilograms or even a ton.

During the ‘quả sông’ season, harvesting groups in Thanh Chuong district are very active. These groups usually consist of two to five people. Each person can harvest between two and three hundred kilograms of fruit per day. The ‘quả sông’ season brings not only joy but also a considerable income for those involved in the harvesting process.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, a 61-year-old resident of Thanh My commune in Thanh Chuong, shared that during this ‘quả sông’ season, he had purchased about 40 trees. Every day, he and his wife work diligently to harvest the fruit, as leaving the ripe yellow fruit unpicked could cause them to fall and spoil. Each ‘quả sông’ tree is usually harvested multiple times, and the last round collects both green and ripe fruit.

After harvesting, the fruit is sorted; the perfect ones are sold immediately, while bruised or infested ones are sliced and dried for sale as dried fruit.

While the ‘quả sông’ fruit was once obscure, it has now become a sought-after delicacy. After harvesting, traders often buy the fruit directly from the gardens or carefully pack them in boxes to ship to customers across provinces and cities.

In Thanh Chuong, Ms. Hoai shared that ‘quả sông’ in the gardens is quite affordable, with fresh fruit priced between 4,000 and 5,000 VND per kg, while dried ‘quả sông’ slices cost around 50,000 VND per kg. However, when brought to the city, the value of ‘quả sông’ increases significantly, with fresh fruit selling for about 30,000 VND per kg and dried fruit reaching 130,000 VND per kg.

“In my garden, there are almost ten ‘quả sông’ trees, but no one can climb to pick the fruit, so every year, I have to sell the entire trees to traders. They send people to our garden to harvest the fruit. This way of selling doesn’t fetch as high a price as weighing and selling the fruit ourselves, but it saves us a lot of effort,” shared Ms. Hoai.