When it comes to An Giang specialties, in addition to the familiar names known to many people such as Long Xuyen fish noodles, palm cake, O Thum grilled chicken, fish sauce hotpot, etc., there is also a rustic but equally famous dish. That is durian salad.

This dish is made from the main ingredients of young leaves and flowers of the sầu đâu tree. This is a wild tree that grows in many areas such as Tri Ton, Chau Doc, Tinh Bien (An Giang) or Ha Tien (Kien Giang), Bac Lieu.

In the Central region, there is also the sầu đâu tree (also known as sầu đông), but the flowers are purple and the leaves are poisonous and inedible. In the Western provinces, the sầu đâu tree has white flowers and bitter leaves, and is often used by people as an ingredient in cooking.

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In 2022, An Giang province's durian salad was recognized as an Asian Record according to the criteria set by the Asian Record Organization. Photo: Thai Lam

According to local people, from around October to February of the lunar calendar every year, the neem tree begins to change leaves and bloom. During this time, people often go to the market, buy bundles of young leaves and neem flowers to make salad.

Mr. Thai Lam, a native of Chau Doc, said that the soursop salad is not prepared according to a fixed recipe, but depends on the preferences and conditions of each family and each region. It can be served with thinly sliced ​​boiled pork belly, dried snakehead fish, dried snakehead fish, etc., or mixed with fresh grilled snakehead fish or catfish. The accompanying vegetables also vary, such as cucumber, green mango, tomato, herbs, etc.

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Neem leaves are green, bitter, sweet aftertaste, cool, flowers are less bitter and fragrant. Photo: Binh Minh

According to Mr. Lam, to make a delicious salad, An Giang people often wash the young leaves and flowers of the sầu đâu tree, then blanch them in boiling water to reduce the bitterness, then drain. Next, chop or shred the accompanying ingredients such as pineapple, mango, and cucumber.

Boil pork belly and slice thinly, grill dried fish and shred it, boil shrimp and peel and remove head.

Like other salads, durian salad is also mixed with a special sauce, made from fish sauce (or linh fish sauce) and tamarind essence. This is also considered the "soul" of the dish.

Depending on the region and each person's preferences and tastes, durian salad can be flexibly varied with a number of different ingredients. Photo: @tridat1122

First, put ripe tamarind in a pot, boil with a little water until it bubbles, then pour it out and filter the juice. Mix the resulting juice with a little fish sauce, add a little sugar and minced garlic and chili and stir well. The tamarind fish sauce mixture is brown, slightly thick, with distinct sour, spicy, salty and sweet flavors.

Mix all ingredients with tamarind fish sauce, wait about 15-20 minutes. When the durian salad is well-seasoned, arrange on a plate, add herbs, cilantro, crushed peanuts and a few slices of fresh red chili.

Specialty that sounds sad but tastes bitter, attracts visitors to enjoy in An Giang. Source: Eat with Dau

Those who try this salad for the first time often find it difficult to eat because of the bitter taste of the leaves. However, those who are used to it will feel the attractiveness and harmony between the fatty taste of shrimp and meat, mixed with a little bitterness of the leaves and the mild sourness of the tamarind sauce.

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Picking up a piece of sầu đâu salad, diners can feel the fatty taste of meat, the sweetness of shrimp, the sourness of mango mixed with the slightly bitter taste of sầu đâu leaves and the sweet and sour tamarind fish sauce, creating a strange and delicious feeling that is hard to describe. Photo: Thai Lam

Although the soursop salad is made from simple ingredients, it still shows the talent and skill of the person who makes it. This dish is also often used by An Giang people to entertain and welcome distinguished guests to their home.

If you have the opportunity to visit An Giang, you can find and enjoy sau dau salad at many restaurants and eateries specializing in local specialties in areas such as Chau Doc, Tinh Bien, etc. with prices ranging from 50,000 - 100,000 VND/plate, depending on the ingredients.

Western guests rave about the 2.5 million VND beef pho in Ho Chi Minh City, with fish sauce ice cream for dessert. The expensive beef pho is only served by the restaurant when customers order in advance, including a bowl of hot broth simmered from bones for 12 hours with 7 different types of beef... and a separate portion of fresh wagyu beef.