Cold wind comes back, remembering braised star fruit

The North has entered winter. The biting cold reminds us of the rich, rustic dishes made from Chinese jujube.

Canarium trees are widely distributed in the northeastern mountainous regions of our country, such as Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Tuyen Quang provinces... In late autumn and early winter, canarium forests begin to ripen, and ethnic people begin to pick black and green canariums to bring to the market to sell.

In the past, at the market days in the plains of my hometown, fresh star fruit was sold everywhere. When I was a child, I would always go to the star fruit section when I followed my mother to the market. My mother often bought a couple of kilos of green star fruit to stew with crucian carp or braise with pork belly for the whole family to eat gradually over the next few days. The star fruit has a characteristic sour and astringent taste, but when we children got hold of it, we would gnaw on a piece, then grimace and stick out our tongues...

To make delicious dishes from canarium fruit is really a lot of work. If the fruit is whole, it must be processed by splitting it in half and removing the sharp diamond-shaped seeds. Then soak the canarium fruit and wash it in diluted salt water. We must continue to boil the canarium fruit in 2-3 batches of boiling water and then pour away the water to soften the canarium fruit and reduce the astringency.

The soft, dark yellow pieces of canarium still retain their sour taste. Now, they are just waiting to be combined with pork belly or crucian carp and spices such as galangal, ginger, and fermented rice to create a delicious dish. The sour taste of canarium mixed with the fatty taste of the pork belly or the fishy smell of the fish will make diners remember it forever.

Braised plums go well with rice. There is nothing more suitable to eat in the cold winter. Parents often give in and remind their children to eat more meat and fish to grow up quickly. But every time, the braised plums are always gone, leaving only meat and fish...

Later, when I had the opportunity to go to some mountainous provinces in the Northeast and wander around the market, I had the opportunity to enjoy black sticky rice with canarium fruit. Previously, the Tay and Nung ethnic people in the highlands often made black sticky rice with canarium fruit to eat on the occasion of weddings, housewarmings, death anniversaries, etc. But now, people make this dish to sell to serve tourists from near and far.

The best upland sticky rice grains are chosen to cook sticky rice with canarium fruit. The white color of sticky rice mixed with the black and purple color of canarium fruit creates a very unique and attractive sticky rice dish. Before eating, just sitting near the sticky rice dish with canarium fruit, we can smell the aroma. Sticky rice with canarium fruit has a rich, fatty taste but does not get boring quickly like other types of sticky rice.

Nowadays, in the city, it is rare to have a delicious meal of braised star fruit like in the past. The northeast monsoon winds blow down, reminding us even more of the warm family meals, the scene of sisters arguing over the last piece of braised star fruit on the plate...