This dish, made with pickled bamboo shoots, is full of motherly love.

My roommate went to the market and bought some jackfruit pickle, excitedly showing it off. I recognized it as a familiar dish from my childhood. Jackfruit pickle was strange and unfamiliar to her, but it brought back a whole season of memories for me.

Pickled jackfruit dish. Photo: Archival material.

My family grows a lot of jackfruit. When the jackfruit ripens, we pick it from the tree and enjoy it right in the yard. We eat some, share some with our neighbors, and send some back to our hometown to share with our grandparents, uncles, and aunts. Everyone loves the golden, fragrant jackfruit from our farm.

With my mother's skillful hands and creativity, jackfruit is also used as an ingredient for the dish called "nhút mít" (jackfruit pickle). I don't know why it's called "nhút." I only know that by the time I learned about it and tasted the dish, that name had already been around for a long time.

"Nhút" is usually made from young, green jackfruit. After peeling and washing away the sap, my mother puts the jackfruit in a basket to dry. Then, she uses a knife to cut the jackfruit in half, and finely chops the fibrous parts, segments, and unripe seeds into thin slices. The jackfruit is then washed and placed in a basket to drain.

My mother mixed coarse salt with the dried jackfruit. She layered the jackfruit with salt, evenly spreading it over each layer and kneading it thoroughly to ensure the salt was absorbed.

Then, the jackfruit was placed in a ceramic jar and pressed down tightly. My mother mixed some diluted salt water and poured it over the jackfruit in the jar. A small bamboo mat, just the right size for the mouth of the jar, was inserted to press it down; then stones were used to hold the jackfruit down so it wouldn't float to the surface, preventing it from turning black and looking unappealing.

If you want the pickled bamboo shoots to ripen faster, reach the right level of sourness, and be ready to eat sooner, you can add a little sugar to the mixture; this will speed up the fermentation process.

A few days later, the whole family had plenty of pickled bamboo shoots to enjoy. But that's not all; now was the time for Mom to show off her culinary skills, creating delicious variations of dishes from pickled bamboo shoots.

The simplest way is to just drain the pickled bamboo shoots, spread them out on a plate, and serve with a dipping sauce made with fish sauce and garlic – guaranteed to be enough to make the whole family eat up their meal.

Sometimes my mother would add some pork cracklings to the pan and stir-fry them with the pickled bamboo shoots, seasoning them with a little spice. Quickly, the whole family would have a rich and savory stir-fried pickled bamboo shoot dish to eat with rice.

Another ingenious way my mother prepares this dish, not overly complicated but incredibly delicious with rice, is to roast peanuts, grind them into a powder, mix them with dried and loosened fermented bamboo shoots, season with spices, and arrange on a plate. She never forgets to sprinkle some chopped lime leaves on top.

The enticing aroma made the children inhale longingly. The poor children were captivated by their mother's dish, praising it as being just like chicken salad.

My mother not only makes jackfruit pickle from young, green jackfruit, but she also creatively uses the fibrous part of ripe jackfruit. After eating the large segments of the jackfruit, instead of throwing them away, she uses an aluminum spoon to scrape out the fibrous part and puts it into a large bowl.

My mother tore the fibers into small, even pieces, added a little salt or seasoning powder, and MSG, mixed it thoroughly, and then pressed it tightly into a bowl. She then used a ceramic plate to press down on top.

This pickled jackfruit dish is ready faster than pickled jackfruit made from unripe jackfruit. After just a few hours, my mother took the pickled jackfruit out of the bowl, and by then it had formed a solid mass.

The pickled bamboo shoots were a beautiful golden color, just looking at them made my mouth water. My mother placed the bamboo shoots on a cutting board and sliced ​​them neatly into even pieces, arranging them on a plate. They looked just like bright yellow, attractive egg tarts.

Pickled jackfruit is not only a summer treat but also enhances the flavor of the cold winter months. A hot meal paired with a piece of pickled jackfruit is so delicious you'll want to keep eating it.

Life has changed, and jackfruit pickle is no longer as common as it used to be, but in our hearts, jackfruit pickle will always be a beloved dish, imbued with the warmth of a mother's love.

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