Long time no see the taste of Sake

Waking up this morning after a deep sleep in the rain, I crept out to the porch to catch some morning breeze and suddenly realized that the jackfruit tree in front of the house had been laden with fruit for some time.

Many delicious dishes were created from this fruit that looks like jackfruit but is not. Photo: Hanh Nhi

Looking at the jackfruits hanging from the branches, I suddenly remembered the first time my father brought the jackfruit home. No one in the family could name the strange fruit that looked like jackfruit but had no thorns, no segments, was not big, just within reach, and had no special smell. I didn't know how to prepare it or what it would taste like.

And so, under my father's cooking hands, countless unique dishes associated with this special fruit were gradually born.

The first dish, and also the one my father makes most often, is a salad of jackfruit mixed with shrimp and meat. My father peels the old jackfruit, cuts it into quarters, boils it until just cooked, then soaks it in cold water to make it crispy. Each piece is cut into bite-sized pieces, then mixed with shrimp, pork belly, herbs, and sweet and sour fish sauce, and finally adds some fragrant roasted peanuts.

The rich taste of the sago blends harmoniously with the fatty taste of the meat, the sweetness of the shrimp, the sweet and sour taste of the sauce, and the strong aroma of the herbs, making the dish more appealing. Perhaps that is why my father often makes this dish as an appetizer for afternoon gatherings with friends.

Sometimes my father would change things up a bit by not using shrimp and meat anymore, but instead using boiled pork skin to mix with the breadfruit, adding some Vietnamese coriander, fish sauce, and fragrant fried onion oil. So there was a mixed dish to enjoy with grilled rice paper. For family meals, my father often stewed the breadfruit with bones or pig tails to make soup.

The pieces of jackfruit are stewed until soft but not mushy, retaining the rich, sweet flavor, absorbing the spices from the rich broth that attracts the taste buds, along with a little pepper, coriander, and green onions, making the whole family eat forever without getting bored. On rainy days, eating rice with a bowl of stewed jackfruit soup makes the whole body warm.

Sometimes, my father would peel the sapless jackfruit in the corner of the kitchen into small trapezoidal pieces, coat them with flour, and fry them in hot oil. The alluring aroma seemed to entice the hungry children who missed their meal.

Take a bite of the crispy fried breadfruit, soft and fatty on the inside, dipped in a spicy mayonnaise sauce mixed with chili, bringing your taste buds to a sublime level.

It was not until later when I learned more information that I learned that, in addition to being an ingredient to prepare many delicious dishes, breadfruit is also a superfood with many health benefits. In Oriental medicine, breadfruit is also used as a medicine.

Another sago season has come, but it has been a long time since I have enjoyed the delicious dishes made from sago cooked by my father. For more than two years, my father has turned into smoke and returned to the sky, and for the same amount of time, sago has been absent from my meals.

Without dad's hand, the dishes associated with dad almost lost their original flavor. Those flavors probably only remain in memories.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/lau-ngay-nho-vi-sa-ke-3305461.html