Pickled vegetables with the rich flavor of mother's love

16 Nhut — *Jackfruit pickled dish. Photo: Document*

My family grows a lot of jackfruit. When the jackfruit is ripe, we pick it from the tree and enjoy it right in the yard. We save some for ourselves, share some with the neighbors, and send some back to the countryside to share with our grandparents, uncles and aunts. Everyone loves the fragrant, golden jackfruits of my family.

With my mother’s skillful hands and creativity, jackfruit is also an ingredient for jackfruit pickle. I don’t know why it’s called “pickle”. I only know that by the time I learned about it and enjoyed the dish, the name had been around for a long time.

Pickled jackfruit is usually made from young and green jackfruit. After peeling and washing off the outer layer of sap, my mother put the jackfruit in a basket to dry. Next, she used a knife to cut the jackfruit in half, chop the fibers, segments and young seeds into thin pieces. The jackfruit was washed and placed in a basket to drain.

Mom mixed coarse salt with the dried jackfruit. Each layer of jackfruit will be a layer of salt spread evenly and kneaded well to let the salt absorb.

Then, the jackfruit was put into a ceramic jar and pressed down. Mom mixed a little salt water and poured it over the jackfruit in the jar. A small bamboo mat, just the size of the mouth of the jar, was put in and pressed down; then a stone was used to block the jackfruit from floating up, avoiding it turning black and looking unattractive.

If you want the pickled vegetables to "ripen" quickly, become sour quickly, and be ready to eat quickly, you can add a little sugar and mix it in, so that the pickled vegetables will ferment quickly.

A few days later, the whole family had pickled vegetables to enjoy. Not only that, now was the time for mom to show off her talent in making delicious dishes from pickled vegetables.

The simplest way is to just scoop out the pickled vegetables, squeeze them dry, and spread them out on a plate. Mix a bowl of fish sauce and garlic and you're sure to have enough to make your family's meal go down a storm.

Sometimes my mother added some pork rinds to the pan and stir-fried the pickled vegetables, adding a little seasoning. Soon the whole family had a fatty stir-fried pickled vegetables dish that went well with rice.

Another ingenious way of preparing food of my mother, not too complicated but very delicious. My mother roasted peanuts, crushed them, mixed them with dried fermented bean curd, loosened them, seasoned them with spices and arranged them on a plate. Don’t forget to sprinkle some chopped lemon leaves on top.

The fragrant aroma made the children sniff it longingly. The poor children loved their mother's dish, praising it as much as chicken salad.

Mom not only makes pickled jackfruit from young, green jackfruits, but she also creates pickled jackfruit from ripe jackfruit fibers. After eating all the big segments of the jackfruit, Mom does not throw them away but uses an aluminum spoon to scrape off the jackfruit fibers and put them in a large bowl.

Mom tore the fiber into small pieces, added a little salt or seasoning powder, MSG, mixed well and pressed it tightly into a bowl. Mom used a ceramic plate to press it on top.

This pickled vegetable dish is quicker to prepare than the one made from green jackfruit. After just a few hours, my mother removed the pickled vegetable from the bowl, which had now formed into a block.

The golden-yellow pickled cucumber, just looking at it makes you crave it. Putting the pickled cucumber on the cutting board, my mother cut it into neat pieces and arranged them on a plate. It looked exactly like bright, beautiful golden egg cakes.

Jackfruit pickles are not only available in summer but also make a richer flavor when used in cold winter. A hot meal with a piece of pickles is so delicious that you can't stop exclaiming.

Life has changed, the dish "nhut" is no longer as common as before, but in our hearts, "nhut mit" is always a beloved dish with a strong mother's love.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/mon-nhut-dam-vi-tinh-me-3299562.html