The West (Southwest) is a familiar name for people living in the Mekong Delta region. Not only possessing rich and diverse natural resources, this land also has a unique cultural and culinary life, attracting tourists from everywhere.
Many people who come to the West are surprised to see people here eating white rice... mixed with fruits, such as mango, watermelon, banana, avocado, coconut. They can eat it with some dipping sauces such as salt and pepper, fish sauce, soy sauce or "more luxurious" with braised meat, braised fish, fried dried fish... to have a "perfect" meal.
Mr. Vo Phuong Vinh (born in 1992, Tien Giang) is the owner of the photo series of mixed fruit rice that has taken social networks by storm. The photo series makes people from the West far away from home miss the taste that has been associated with their childhood. But the photo series makes many diners from far away feel strange, curious about the taste and origin.
Sharing about this “strange” rice dish, Vinh said with a typical Western accent: “I don’t remember when meals with fruit became familiar. When I was young, I often ate rice with bananas, watermelons, and mangoes. Until now, every now and then I crave and miss it. I crave the sweet, refreshing, fragrant taste of ripe mango, eaten with braised fish or fried dried fish, mixed with a bowl of hot white rice. I say, it’s so delicious!”
In fact, rice mixed with fruit is a way of eating that has existed for a long time among people in the West. "Maybe at that time, life was still poor, there was not much meat and fish, so people created a way to mix rice with fruit, which is easy to eat, delicious and also filling," said Vinh.
According to some people in the West, rice is sticky and a bit dry, so when eaten with juicy fruits, with a sour or sweet taste, it will be easy to swallow, delicious and prevent boredom. That is why fruits such as watermelon, ripe mango or banana are popular. These fruits are also commonly found in home gardens.
Rice with mango
White rice combined with mango is probably the most familiar mixed rice dish of the Western people. If eaten with ripe mango, Hoa Loc cat mango and Cat Chu mango are the two most popular types. Western people often choose mangoes with a yellow, smooth skin, firm to the touch and the base of the mango stem is slightly sunken. If the mango is too ripe or too soft, it will no longer have the fresh taste of the mango.
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If eating with green mango, they choose fresh mangoes, the green skin is not too dark or too light. The stem is still young, slightly wet and still has latex, then it is fresh. People often shred green mangoes or cut mangoes into stems, eat with fish sauce mixed with sugar and chili. This dish will be more flavorful if combined with fried dried fish, braised meat, braised fish.
Rice with banana
Bananas are the most common fruit in the gardens of people in the West. Therefore, rice mixed with bananas is considered a "national dish". The type of banana often eaten with rice is ripe Siamese bananas.
The riper the banana, the softer and sweeter it is, and the more delicious it is. Combine banana with rice, pour on a little salty soy sauce and spicy chili and you have a bowl of delicious rice.
Rice with watermelon
Although not a fruit that is easy to find in the garden like bananas or mangoes, watermelon is sold all year round. Watermelon is juicy, sweet, and cool when eaten with rice.
The experience in choosing melons is that the melon rind must be round, shiny and the stripes must be clear and bold. In particular, if the melon stem is small, withered and as curly as possible, the better. Melons like that are usually very sweet, red and have fewer seeds.
Rice with coconut milk
Coconut water poured over rice, served with salty jerky or dried fish or braised meat is a typical dish in the West.
When they miss a meal, Westerners often scoop up a bowl of cold rice, run to the garden to cut a fresh coconut, and pour coconut water into the bowl of rice. Eating this way has the sweet, refreshing taste of coconut water. Westerners often choose the Siamese coconut, not too young or too old, so that the water has the right sweetness and is delicious.
Vo Nhu Khanh
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