Tri Ton and Tinh Bien districts in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang are home to palmyra palm trees whose fruits are the main ingredient of many local specialties
Palmyra palm leaves are used for thatching houses and their trunks are used as firewood while their flowers and fruits are used to make food and drink.
Palmyra palm steamed rice cake
The steamed rice cake is popular in the delta. To make it, old palmyra palm fruits are first picked and pounded. The liquid is then mixed with rice flour. Needless to say, palmyra palm sugar is used for this kind of cake. The sugar lends these steamed rice cakes an eye-catching yellow color as well as a very good flavor. Last but not least, coconut milk is one of ingredients which gives the cake a fatty taste.
Palmyra palm leaf cake
This is a unique specialty in the Mekong Delta. The four main ingredients of the dish include rice flour, palmyra palm sugar, coconut milk and palmyra palm powder. To begin with, rice will be ground into powder. After a night of being soaked, the rice flour will be mixed with sugar, coconut milk and palmyra palm powder and cooked until they become quite gelatinous.
The mixture will be wrapped in banana leaves, added with boiled mung bean and coconut flesh, before being shaped into squares.
Palmyra palm sweet soup
The sweet soup is mostly a favorite of young diners. Making the dish is quite easy. Palmyra palm sugar is heated until it is melted. Coconut milk and flesh of palmyra palm fruit will be next added to the liquid. And that is how the sweet soup is made. Mung beans, coconut flesh and almond should be added to enhance its flavor.
Palmyra palm drink
Along the border between Vietnam and Cambodia, hawkers offer palmyra palm fruits. Juice from the fruit can quench the thirst of travelers on their trips. The fruits’ jelly-like white flesh also match up well with the overall drink.
From this kind of fruits, a unique palmyra palm wine can be produced which can be a gift from this part of the delta.
By Bao Phuong
