Westerners eat rice mixed with fruit, a national dish that cannot be missed.

Banana rice, watermelon, mango, plum... may sound strange, but in the West they are 'national dishes', you can't stand it without them, can't swallow them.

Western specialty mixed rice with fruit makes many people confused when hearing about it - Photo: DANG KHUONG

Many people find it difficult to understand when they hear about mixed rice with fruit. But for people in the West, whenever they hear about mixed rice with banana, watermelon, mango... it brings back their childhood memories.

Such a diverse and unique combination of garden ingredients creates an eye-catching but equally "rice-consuming" picture of color.

Banana rice, watermelon, mango sounds "delicious"

There are countless "rice-consuming" fruits in the West, especially three that almost every household has: watermelon, banana, and mango.

Watermelon mixed rice is easily found in daily meals in the Mekong Delta.

Watermelon mixed rice is cool and sweet and is loved by many people - Photo: DANG KHUONG

Watermelon is popular because it is easy to buy in the market and cheap. The melons are juicy and sweet, so eating them with rice will create a refreshing feeling and make them easier to swallow.

When shopping, women often choose melons with shiny, plump skin and dark stripes. In particular, melons with curly and wilted stems will be more delicious. According to "marketing experience", melons with the above characteristics are often sweeter and have fewer seeds.

Bananas are found in abundance in the Western provinces and are often eaten with rice - Photo: DANG KHUONG

On a Facebook food page, many people said that not talking about banana rice was a mistake.

Some people in the West call banana rice "national dish" because banana trees are common and easy to find in this river region.

People often choose ripe Siamese bananas.

Bananas eaten with rice will be soft, sweet, sometimes slightly sour, making the meal strange and "delicious".

For eye-catching bowls of golden mango rice, people in the West often choose fruits that are just ripe, not too unripe or overripe to keep the fresh taste.

The "selected" mangoes must be golden and smooth. Another way to distinguish them is that the mango stem is slightly soft when pressed down. The two types of mangoes that often appear in rustic, everyday meals like this are Hoa Loc mango and Cat Chu mango.

If it is green mango, people in the West can also process it flexibly. Typically, they shred it into strips to eat with dishes such as dried fruit, fried fish, and braised meat. Green mangoes are often chosen with stems that still have latex, and green skin that is not too dark or light.

To make mango rice more "stimulating", some dipping sauces such as fish sauce, sugar, and chili are indispensable. In addition, some other fruit rice dishes that make many tourists admire when coming to the West are rice with coconut milk, avocado rice, plum rice...

Lots of fish and meat, but only with rice mixed with fruit can it be swallowed.

"I always thought fruit was only used for dessert"; "Is fruit really eaten with rice?"; "I have no idea what it tastes like" - some TikTok users wondered. The reason this rice dish is popular in the West is because this is a garden area. Each family usually grows a few types of fruit trees or can buy them cheaply.

The combination of two "unique Western" ingredients like this meets the living needs of the people here.

Some other oral traditions say that this way of eating is because in the past, the West was poor, so people ate fruit with rice to save money. From there, the name "fruit mixed rice" was born.

On Facebook, Son Nguyen shared:

"Because people in the West are used to eating everything sweet like chè, they eat it with sweet fruits like that."

"It's not true to say that the West lacks fish and meat. There are plenty of fish and shrimp in the fields, but people are reluctant to process them.

"It's hot and cooking is tiring. Cutting fruit to eat with it is the fastest" - Minh Tu Do wrote. Thien Thanh also humorously said: "Whatever people say, I eat rice with meat without ripe bananas and I can't swallow it."

Although there are many different stories about the origin of fruit rice. But in general, fruit rice is almost a "national dish", "indispensable without" in the daily meals of people in the West.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nguoi-mien-tay-an-com-tron-trai-cay-mon-quoc-dan-thieu-chiu-khong-noi-20241209125254288.htm