The season of ripe star fruit

Every year, around September and October, Bui Van Tho from Xuan Dai commune and Ha Van Toan from Kim Thuong commune, Tan Son district, prepare their tools and wander through villages and hamlets searching for wild nutmeg trees. The old nutmeg trees, 25-40 meters tall, are laden with fruit, with some clusters already cracked, revealing red seeds – a sign that the fruit is ready for harvest.

The clusters of ripe, red seeds burst open right on the tree.

When ripe, the seeds of the nutmeg tree have a distinctive red color.

Red in the forest

Doi seeds are a treasure of the mountain people because of their high economic value, sometimes reaching 2-3 million VND/kg. When ripe, doi seeds have a bright red color, standing out against the green of the mountains and forests.

There are many types of dổi (a type of tree), and if you can't distinguish them, it's easy to buy low-quality dổi seeds. According to the people in the mountainous regions, there are two types: sticky dổi and non-sticky dổi.

The characteristic of the common nutmeg tree is that its seeds are usually dark and hard; when roasted or ground, they are bitter and unsuitable for use as a spice. Conversely, if the seeds are from the glutinous nutmeg tree, when used to marinate food, they will have a distinctive aroma and will not be bitter. In particular, the older the nutmeg tree, the better the quality of its seeds. A family garden with a nutmeg tree that is 20-30 years old is considered a treasure.

Following in the footsteps of Bui Van Tho and Ha Van Toan, we visited the family of Mrs. Ha Thi Thanh Xuan in Xuan 1 area, Kim Thuong commune. Mrs. Xuan is well-known in the area because her family still maintains about 10 sticky rice-grained mahogany trees, each over 20 years old.

Ms. Xuan shared: "My family started growing nutmeg in 1992. Because we planted it from seeds, it took exactly 15 years to harvest. Since it's a sticky nutmeg variety, the seeds are fragrant and plump, so every year around October, people come to inquire about buying them. A few years ago, nutmeg seeds sold very well, providing a stable income for the family. However, in the last two years, due to the widespread appearance of nutmeg seeds of unknown origin and poor quality, the market has become competitive, causing the price of nutmeg seeds to drop significantly."

The dổi tree (a type of tree) is generally not picky about soil or terrain; whether growing naturally in the forest or planted in a home garden, the quality of its fruit remains consistent. The tree tends to grow straight, and older trees can reach heights of 40-50 meters. However, the tree is brittle and easily broken, so not everyone has the experience and skill to climb it.

The joy of the people on the day of harvesting the dổi tree (a type of tree).

Those who regularly climb the dổi tree, like Thọ and Toàn, always prepare their equipment very carefully before climbing. Their tools include climbing clogs, safety harnesses, long bamboo poles used to hook clusters of fruit that are far away, and tarpaulins spread under the tree to prevent the dổi seeds from falling out. During harvesting, they must minimize breaking branches as this will affect the quality and yield in subsequent years.

Typically, a single nutmeg tree can yield 20-30 kg of fruit. Ripe nutmeg fruits reveal beautiful red seeds inside after the shell is removed. After being shelled, the seeds are sun-dried or oven-dried and then wrapped in plastic bags for longer preservation without losing their flavor.

The flavors of highland cuisine

After harvesting, the seeds of the dổi tree can be used as a spice to prepare many traditional dishes. The Muong people in Tan Son often use wild dổi seeds as a spice for dipping sauces with grilled pork, boiled pork, grilled duck, grilled chicken, or pork offal, or as a marinade. When preparing them, the seeds are usually roasted over charcoal to enhance their aroma, then ground into a powder similar to peppercorns.

Doi seeds are also an indispensable spice for marinating wild boar meat and grilled dishes such as chicken, pork belly, or grilled ribs. Some people also use doi seeds when cooking chicken and sour bamboo shoots to create an attractive and well-rounded dish.

After drying, the seeds of the nutmeg tree are wrapped in plastic bags for preservation.

The seeds of the nutmeg tree after the shells have been removed.

However, a characteristic of nutmeg seeds is that once roasted or baked, they don't last as long as peppercorns. Therefore, they should only be roasted when needed, and only the amount used should be roasted at that time.

Besides its culinary value, the seeds of the nutmeg tree also have significant economic value. The tree usually flowers around February or March and is harvested in September or October. Because it only flowers once a year, the harvested nutmeg seeds are very rare.

It takes 5 years for a nutmeg tree to grow and bear fruit. Even so, it takes over 10 years for a tree to yield a significant amount of nuts, typically 3kg or more. Young nutmeg trees can only yield 0.5 to 1kg per harvest. If dried, 3kg of fresh nutmeg seeds only produce 1kg of dried seeds. Due to their scarcity, wild nutmeg seeds are quite rare and often out of stock, with insufficient quantities to meet customer demand. Currently, dried nutmeg seeds are priced at 1.5-2 million VND per kilogram on the market.

Ms. Ha Thi Thanh Xuan, from Xuan 1 area, Kim Thuong commune, currently has 10 mahogany trees that are ready for harvest.

People separate the seeds of the nutmeg tree after harvesting.

According to Phung Trong Luan, Chairman of the People's Committee of Kim Thuong commune: "The commune is mainly inhabited by ethnic minorities, with 90% of the people engaged in forestry and agriculture . The economy is primarily based on fields, hills, and forests, with a small number working as laborers in industrial zones and clusters in the province. Due to the remote and difficult roads, and the fact that the products mainly serve local markets, people's incomes are not high. Families with long-standing nutmeg trees, whose seeds are fragrant and firm, are more well-known and sell their produce to more places. We also hope that the people will continue to preserve traditional crops with high economic value, such as nutmeg trees, to contribute to improving the household economy."

The season for ripe dổi fruit has arrived, a distinctive spice of the mountains and forests that captivates and delights many. And the decades-old dổi trees in the mountainous region of Tân Sơn have become a special product, reminding everyone of this land whenever October arrives, the month of the dổi harvest.

Vinh Ha

Source: https://baophutho.vn/mua-doi-chin-220290.htm