Missing the sour, astringent taste of the banyan fruit from my hometown

The fruit grows in clusters.

In my hometown in the West, the mangroves grow in rows, intertwined with many types of submerged plants, including the water coconut. The mangroves are a species of tree with strong vitality. Their strong roots grow densely, clinging tightly and deeply into the soil. No matter how much water is flooded, the mangroves remain green.

During our childhood, on hot summer afternoons, we kids often climbed up the banyan tree to catch bird nests and then jumped into the river. At night, we would watch to catch fireflies and light up the lamps, making the banyan trees look like they were holding a lantern festival.

For rural children like my sisters and I, we often enjoy this heavenly snack in a simple way. One climbs the tree, the other holds a conical hat or shirt under the tree. We hold the fruit in our hands, quickly wipe it on our shirt, dip it in salt, and then put it in our mouths to bite.

In the poor countryside, there was a shortage of snacks. The fruit eaten with salt had a sour, astringent, and salty taste, but we children found it strangely delicious. The mouths covered in sap, the faces grimacing because of the sourness of those innocent days left me with a world of memories.

The stem of the fruit blooms when it is about to ripen.

When the rainy season comes, the flowers of the Bần flower bloom, when they are still purple buds, when they bloom they are pure white. There are two types of Bần that my villagers call: Bầngua and Bần đĩa. Bầngua has medium-sized fruits, while Bần đĩa is as big as a plate.

Children love to eat ripe Bần điột. The Bần fruit is soft, cut open and dipped in salt and chili, it has a sour and astringent taste, and a faint aroma. As for adults, they pick sour Bần, then add a plate of fish sauce to have a snack to enjoy with friends. Ripe Bần fruit is both rich and fragrant, mixed with the astringent taste of Bần seeds, making the fish sauce strangely attractive.

In my memory, the green rows of mangroves and the rippling water are bustling with the green of the countryside. My hometown, the image of my grandmother and mother, and the lullaby next to the hammock on summer afternoons, no matter how far away I go, my hometown always makes me feel nostalgic with the rows of mangroves reflecting on the river.

Ripe tamarind with salt or chili salt is a favorite dish of many children in the river region.

Behind my maternal grandparents' house, there were many mangrove trees. My mother told me that back then, the land behind my maternal grandparents' house was wild, so there were many mangrove trees. Around June and July, when the mangrove trees were ripe, my mother would pick the mangrove trees to cook sour soup for the whole family to eat. When we grew up, my sisters and I got to enjoy this dish because there were still many mangrove trees in my maternal grandparents' house. The mangrove sour soup is rustic but goes well with rice, especially when eaten with braised fish.

It's been a long time since I've enjoyed sour soup with tamarind. My heart is filled with nostalgia. The taste of the countryside is so rich and passionate!

Ingredients for cooking sour soup are very simple.

Mom's recipe for sour soup is extremely simple, just boil a pot of water, add a few ripe Bần fruits and cook until soft, then scoop them out and mash them to get the sour water. Wait for the water to boil, add fish, wild vegetables of your choice, cook whatever you have.

The best sour soup is made with catfish or striped catfish. If you don't have those types of fish, snakehead fish or catfish are equally delicious. Wait until the fish is almost cooked, then add the vegetables, season to taste, add a little coriander and a few slices of chili and serve.

The hot soup, the aroma of the Bần, combined with the sour, spicy, sweet taste of the sour soup creates a special flavor. In the middle of a hot summer afternoon, there is nothing better than sipping a bowl of hot Bần soup.

Delicious sour soup with catfish.

For people from the river region like me, wherever I go, the image of fresh green mangrove trees and fragrant ripe mangrove fruits still flows in my mind.

Article and photos: THUY TIEN

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