When coming to Ninh Thuan, in addition to famous specialties such as grapes, apples, onions, garlic, asparagus, latex Trom ... are all too familiar, the velvet tamarind fruit is both strange and delicious with a taste of the forest that diners definitely cannot skip. It is called velvet tamarind because there is a layer of silky smooth hair covering the top of the peel on the outside of the skin. Velvet tamarind often grows on the high mountains of Vinh Hy and is collected by the Raglai people living around the foot of the mountain when the fruit is ripe. The velvet fruit ripens from July to September of the solar calendar and is sold in the village markets near the mountain - the area where ethnic minorities live and is also sold in the big market of Phan Rang.
The fruit has a very strange smell, typical of a forest fruit, so it should never be confused with other fruits. The velvet tamarind fruit has a slightly flattened oval shape; the outer skin is dark brown-black. The fruit's outer skin is crispy; just gently pressing it with your hand will break the skin to reveal the inner flesh. The flesh inside the fruit is usually dark yellow, spongy and soft. When eating, the first feeling we may notice is the sour taste, but if we wait a little longer, we will see that the sour taste disappears but remains a very distinct sweet taste in our mouth.
To fully enjoy its flavor and provide velvet fruit all year round, farmers have processed it into products such as velvet tamarind with sugar, first mashed it with sugar, then take it out and put it in a box and then add a little sugar water. As for velvet fruit with salt and chili pepper, bring the crushed fruit with chili salt to dry and then put it in the box. Currently, many tourists, especially young people, consider velvet fruit as a favorite snack. Therefore, Vinh Hy velvet fruit has made many fall in love even though it is just a rustic dish. And velvet tamarind is always chosen for those who travel to buy as gifts for relatives or friends. If anyone has never enjoyed the forest velvet fruit, when you have the opportunity to come to Ninh Thuan, don't forget to try it.
Writer: Thanh Phuong
