Star fruit scent in the garden

Star fruit jam with a cockroach-colored glow. Photo: Dieu Thong

I waited for her to order me around, helping me with this and that, partly because I felt proud that she trusted me to taste the first tiny slices of star fruit jam.

The star fruit tree in the corner of the garden is not very tall, with dark green leaves. It flowers and bears fruit twice a year. When it rains heavily, the star fruit clusters begin to accumulate water, falling all over the roots, attracting insects that buzz around them day and night. Occasionally, I see my grandmother go out into the garden and look up at the round, plump clusters of star fruit.

When the long rains stop, the air clears up, and the garden gradually dries, she will "take action" to clean up the plants and grass to prepare for the pre-Tet crop planting season.

First, she picked up the fallen star fruit that was giving off a slightly sour smell and put them all in a bag. Next, she used a machete to clear away the leaves and branches that had been heavy with rain for a long time. Finally, she carefully picked the clusters of ripe, yellow star fruit that were low to the top of her head and brought them into the house to prepare star fruit jam for her children and grandchildren to enjoy during the rainy season.

To make jam, green or overripe star fruit are discarded. She soaks the yellow star fruit in a mixture of diluted lime water and leaves it overnight. In the morning, when the sun has just covered the yard with a light yellow veil of sunlight, she will place a small chair next to the basin of water and carefully peel the edges, split the star fruit lengthwise into segments, then wash it thoroughly.

To squeeze out the sour juice, she wiped the outside of a glass bottle clean and then rubbed it over each segment of the star fruit. When the juice was clear and the flesh was drier, she put it in a basin and mixed it with sugar. She covered the basin with a thin curtain to keep out flies and then took the batch of star fruit out into the yard and placed it in the sun again to wait for the sugar to dissolve.

Star fruit separated into segments and dried in the sun. Photo: Dieu Thong

Simmering the star fruit is probably the most important and laborious step. To let the jam soak in, she patiently stirs the batch of star fruit that has begun to give off its aroma. She keeps a slow, steady pace to avoid breaking the delicate segments.

She advised: “If you want the star fruit to not burn and absorb the sugar flavor, the person cooking must keep the fire low. If the fire is too high, the sugar will quickly thicken and burn while the star fruit segments are not yet blended and chewy enough.”

When the jam turns brown, she adds a little chopped ginger to increase the aroma and warmth, helping her grandchildren feel less heartbroken during the cold winter days.

Having enjoyed many homemade jams, my grandmother’s star fruit jam gives me a truly different taste. If ginger jam is spicy, papaya and carrot jam is sweet, young coconut jam is soft and fatty, then star fruit jam has a mild sweetness mixed with a light sourness. What I enjoy most is the sticky, nutty aftertaste that sticks to the roots of my teeth from the remaining star fruit seeds mixed in the clear segments of the fruit.

This morning, I saw that her back seemed to have bent a bit more, and the star fruit clusters in the garden were suddenly higher than her arm's reach...

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/huong-khe-trong-vuon-3142985.html