Fragrant green wild banana blossom

Banana blossom and bacon are also processed into banana flower salad. Photo: ZƠRAM THỊ TY

Anyone who has lived in the highlands must have at least once experienced boiled wild banana blossom mixed with smoked pork.

In a cozy space, the fatty taste of wild banana flower blends with the soft, sweet meat. Not to mention, the lingering scent of wild pepper and roasted leaves makes anyone who enjoys it ecstatic and impressed.

I followed my husband to settle in the city, but the taste of the mountains is always in the family’s kitchen cabinet. From wild vegetables, upland rice to miscellaneous spices, the meals are in the city but the taste is of the mountains.

In the past, people in the highlands often stored spices (especially wild pepper) in dry bamboo tubes, covered with banana leaves and placed on the kitchen loft. This method not only increased the aroma and crispness of the pepper due to the kitchen smoke, but also helped preserve the pepper from going moldy.

Rich flavor of wild banana flower mixed with smoked pork. Photo: ZƠRAM THỊ TY

When guests come to my house, I often treat them with rustic dishes from my hometown. Boiled banana blossom mixed with smoked pork is often served.

To make this specialty, the ingredients must be carefully selected. In addition to choosing the best smoked pork, the banana stems picked from the forest must also be carefully preserved. The banana stems must not be crushed to retain their inherent sweet taste. And of course, roasted and sifted leaves and crushed wild pepper are indispensable. They add a rich flavor to the dish.

To make the bacon soft, the meat must be steamed for about 3 - 5 minutes. After peeling off the old outer leaves, remove the hard stem and the blooming pistils, the banana flower is cut into bite-sized pieces. After soaking the banana flower in a mixture of lemon juice or diluted salt water, boil it. Boil the banana flower until cooked, let it cool, and gently squeeze out the water to retain the characteristic sweet and nutty flavor.

Main ingredients to create rustic dishes in the days after Tet. Photo: ZƠRAM THỊ TY

When everything was ready, I mixed the shredded banana flower and dried meat with spices, then put it on a plate, and enjoyed the reunion with friends.

The sweetness of bacon blends with the rich flavor of banana blossom and the faint scent of roasted wild pepper to create an irresistible flavor of mountain food in the city.

In addition to the above preparation, wild banana flower combined with smoked pork can also be made into appetizers such as banana flower salad, zară (dried meat stuffed in bamboo tubes)...

All are elaborately prepared, with a combination of mountain spices. Generations of mountain people, wherever they are, whenever mentioning dishes made from wild banana stems and smoked pork, they cannot resist their emotions, considering it a source of pride in the traditional culinary culture of the community...

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