Delicious dishes from cashews

Dong Nai is the “capital” of cashew cultivation in the country with a total area of ​​over 176 thousand hectares, mainly concentrated in the North of the province. For a long time, cashew nuts have not only been an agricultural export product but can also be processed into many delicious dishes with unique flavors.

Fresh cashews, the starting ingredient for delicious cashew dishes. Photo: Ngoc Lien

Cashew nuts and fruits become the main ingredients for many delicious dishes used in kitchens, daily cooking as well as specialty products as gifts, in which some delicious dishes are known to many people such as: salted roasted cashews, cashew candy, spiced dried cashews, cashew sticky rice, sour cashew soup, stir-fried cashew leaves with cashews, braised meat with cashews...

Delicious food every day

Talking about delicious dishes made with cashew nuts and fruits, many people will immediately think of dishes such as: sour cashew fruit soup, cashew braised with meat, cashew sticky rice, cashew nuts stir-fried with leaves, especially, recently, Dong Nai has been recognized by the Vietnam Record Organization as having the largest fried sticky rice with cashew nuts in Vietnam, which has contributed to making Dong Nai cuisine famous far and wide.

Having the opportunity to visit the northern localities of the province, visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy a rustic but very "delicious" dish, which is stir-fried spring leaves with cashew nuts.

Cashew sour soup, an irresistible dish when diners come to Nhon Trach area of ​​Dong Nai province.

Ms. Tran Thi Ngoc Thao, manager of An Loc Hotel & Spa (An Loc Hotel, Binh Long Ward, Dong Nai Province) said: With the desire to leave a culinary impression when tourists come to Dong Nai and stop at An Loc Hotel, the chef has prepared many delicious dishes combined with Dong Nai cashew specialties, with a unique flavor that only the northern region of the province has. Typical examples include: stir-fried leaf with cashew nuts, vermicelli with catfish with bamboo shoots, cashew sticky rice...

According to Ms. Thao, to create a unique cashew flavor for the dishes, An Loc Hotel's chefs must choose the best cashew nuts and roast them by hand to preserve the flavor of the cashews, which is highly appreciated by tourists after enjoying them.

Going south of the province, Nhon Trach area is also a famous destination with delicious dishes made from cashew. As someone who has enjoyed cashew hotpot many times in Nhon Trach area of ​​Dong Nai province, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, said: Every year, in the season of ripe cashew fruit, around March-April, every time she has the opportunity to visit Nhon Trach area, her family always goes to restaurants to enjoy delicious dishes of the brackish water region, including some dishes cooked with cashew fruit that she enjoys every time she visits such as: sour cashew fruit soup, cashew braised with meat...

“I really love sour cashew soup with its characteristic sweet and sour taste. Every time I come to Nhon Trach during the cashew season, sour cashew soup is indispensable on our dining table” - Ms. Huyen shared more.

Drinks from cashew attract young people today.

Recently, at the event celebrating the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day September 2, the culinary space of Dong Nai province made a strong impression on visitors with special dishes from the Southeast province. Among dozens of dishes, the fried sticky rice with cashew nuts attracted the attention of visitors because of its unique and special way of preparation. In particular, this dish has just been recognized as a Vietnamese record by professional chefs of Dong Nai.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thinh, Head of the Dong Nai Province Chefs Association, shared: The record-breaking event of Dong Nai cashew-fried sticky rice marks a historic moment in the newly established Dong Nai province after the merger of the former Binh Phuoc and Dong Nai provinces. Therefore, for chefs, the record-breaking fried sticky rice dish is not only a normal achievement but also carries the meaning of the connection and harmony of the new Dong Nai province.

Cashew specialties reach international level

In addition to the impressive daily dishes using cashew nuts, cashew nuts are also one of the gift products and specialty snacks that many people love. Currently, products processed from Dong Nai cashew nuts are quite diverse; many products meet the OCOP (One Commune One Product) standards from 3-5 stars, ensuring export criteria.

Stir-fried spring leaves with cashew nuts - a delicious dish from the northern region of Dong Nai province.

In particular, after being granted the geographical indication of Dong Nai cashew, OCOP-standard cashew products have created advantages in the market, easily convincing customers, avoiding the current situation of counterfeit and fake goods. Some typical businesses and cashew production facilities such as: Nhat Long Cashew Import-Export Trading and Service Production Co., Ltd. (Phu Rieng Commune), Vang Cashew Nuts Co., Ltd. (Phu Rieng Commune), Vinahe Co., Ltd. (Phuoc Long Ward) ... have attractive products for all ages such as: salted roasted cashews, garlic chili cashews, cheese cashews, Thai jum cashews ...

Among them, the most prominent are cashew products under the brand name Ba Tu Binh Phuoc Cashew Nuts of Gia Bao Group Joint Stock Company (Binh Phuoc Ward, Dong Nai Province) with 6 potential 5-star OCOP products including: original cashew nuts, shelled cashew nuts, cashew nuts with silk shell, Himalayan pink salted shelled cashew nuts, Himalayan pink salted cashew nuts, 5-product flavored cashew nut set. In addition, in Binh Phuoc Ward, the brand name Ba Tu Binh Phuoc Cashew Nuts also attracts young people to enjoy drinks made with cashew nut ingredients such as: fresh cashew nuts in jars, cashew nut milk...

Cashew sticky rice - a daily dish of the people of cashew land.

Sharing about the brand and position of Dong Nai cashew nuts in the domestic and international markets, Vice Chairman of Dong Nai Cashew Association Nguyen Hoang Dat said: Dong Nai cashew nuts are not only domestic brands, Dong Nai cashew products have long reached international standards. The whole province currently has more than 1,400 cashew processing enterprises. Of which, there are about 10 deep processing enterprises, meeting export criteria.

According to Mr. Dat, Dong Nai cashew is also processed, produced and exported number 1 in Vietnam, contributing greatly to Vietnam's position as the world's number 1 cashew exporter (50% of the country's total cashew export output). Enterprises always strive to innovate production, increasingly diversify designs and products to meet export criteria in general and meet demanding markets in particular, contributing to making Dong Nai cashew brand famous in the international market.

Assessing the quality and opportunities to develop local agricultural specialties, at the Conference on evaluating and classifying OCOP products of Dong Nai province, phase 1-2025 (mainly cashew products), Provincial Party Committee member, Vice Chairman of Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thi Hoang highly appreciated the efforts and determination to perfect the products of the subjects participating in implementing the OCOP Program in the province in the past time. According to the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, the results in building OCOP products of the subjects being business households and local enterprises have shown that the province's OCOP product development program is being implemented in accordance with the goal of focusing on developing local advantageous products, associated with deep processing of products to increase added value. The strength of the products participating in the OCOP classification assessment is the use of raw materials mainly from the locality, the province's key agricultural products.

Ngoc Lien

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202510/mon-ngon-tu-dieu-c5541d7/