The fragrant and delicious stewed palm fruit of my hometown.

If you ever have the chance, I invite you to visit my hometown of Phu Tho, a midland region of "palm forests and tea hills," during this season. You'll be captivated by the refreshing green of the vast palm groves. The palm forests are like a thousand arms waving, inviting strangers, welcoming back their children after long years of wandering and separation.

If you travel by train to my hometown, you'll hear street vendors shouting, "Stewed palm fruit, ten thousand dong a kilo, plump and juicy!" Remember to buy some and share it with your friends; otherwise, you'll miss out on a delicious treat.

I remember when we were little, my sisters and I would eagerly wait for Mom to come home from the market to ask for treats, each season bringing a different kind. By the end of February, there would be boiled palm fruit, and my sisters and I would share the bag Mom bought, munching away, our faces smeared with the color of the palm fruit. Sometimes, my mother would buy fresh palm fruit and boil it herself at home. Choosing the right palm fruit, as we teenagers would jokingly say, was "an art." The best palm fruit was from a tree that had never had its leaves cut, because people usually grow palms for their leaves to roof houses and make brooms. If a palm tree had its leaves cut once, the fruit would be stunted, the seeds large, and very bitter, losing its characteristic flavor. Choose long palm fruits with small seeds, thick cores, and a creamy yellow color like chicken fat when pressed with a finger. The older the palm fruit, the richer and creamier it tastes.

Before boiling, wash the palm fruit thoroughly and then rub it with sharp objects like bamboo splinters or broken glass to remove the outer layer and reduce bitterness. Boiling palm fruit requires skill; use well water heated to the right temperature. Boil the palm fruit for 15 to 20 minutes, until it feels soft when squeezed and the water has a yellowish, shimmering film on the surface like chicken fat. Boiled palm fruit has a thin, dark brown outer layer and a yellow core; the thicker the core, the better. Boiling in boiling water will speed up the process, but remember to keep the pot tightly closed. Pay close attention to the boiling time to match the water temperature; otherwise, the palm fruit will become tough and bitter.

Braised palm fruit can be eaten plain to appreciate its rich, creamy flavor, or dipped in chili fish sauce, salt, or served with rice…

Besides eating them raw, people in my hometown also select palm fruits with thick, fatty flesh, scrape off the peel, and make pickled palm fruit. Pickled palm fruit has a salty taste from the salt, a rich, creamy, and nutty flavor from the palm, and can be eaten with rice or as a snack – both are delicious.

If you visit any family in my hometown and see pickled palm fruit on the table, open your heart and savor it. You will surely never forget its taste, even if you later eat all sorts of delicacies.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/du-lich/202503/thom-bui-co-om-que-toi-7c7007a/