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

The fruit grows in clusters.

In my hometown in the West, the mangroves grow in rows, intertwined with many other 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 there is, the mangroves remain green.

During my childhood, on hot summer afternoons, we kids often climbed the mangrove trees to catch bird nests and then jumped into the river. At night, we would watch for fireflies and light up the lamps, making the mangrove 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 to catch the fruit 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 lack of snacks. The fruit eaten with salt had a sour, astringent, and salty taste, but we children found it strangely delicious. The mouths sticky with sap, the faces grimacing because of the sourness of those innocent days left a world of memories in me.

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

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

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

In my memory, the green rows of mangrove trees and the rippling water are all mixed with the green of the countryside. My hometown, the image of my grandmother and mother, and the lullaby singing beside the hammock on summer afternoons, no matter how far away I go, my hometown always makes me feel nostalgic with the rows of mangrove trees 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 sour soup with mangrove trees is simple but goes well with rice, especially when eaten with braised fish.

It's been a long time since I've enjoyed sour soup with water mimosa. 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 to get the sour juice. Wait for the water to boil, add fish, wild vegetables of your choice, cook whatever is available.

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

The hot soup, the aroma of the water fern, combined with the sour, spicy, sweet taste of the sour broth creates a special flavor. There is nothing better than sipping a bowl of hot water fern sour soup in the middle of a hot summer afternoon.

Delicious sour soup with steamed catfish.

For people from the river region like me, no matter where 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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