Thanh Hà

Sóc Trăng Province’s pickled scallion bulbs have won fame nationwide for their fragrant, sour-and- sweet characteristics. They are an indispensable dish in the Mekong Delta region’s Tết (Lunar New Year) festival’s meal offering.

“This special pickle is a perfect match with bánh tét (round glutinous rice) cake and caramelised pork for a savoury and distinctive flavour in the Lunar New Year,” said Sóc Trăng resident Huỳnh Văn Sáu, adding that the food carries a significant meaning bringing wishes for good health, prosperity and luck for local people.

Nowadays, due to their busy work lives, many people do not have time to make the pickles so they often buy it in the market, said Sáu.

If you have a chance to visit Sóc Trăng anytime after November, the pickled scallions is sold across the province, from urban to rural areas and is an ideal gift to bring home for parents, relatives and friends, he said.

Making pickled scallions is not so difficult, but to have a quality jar of pickle at the end, each chef needs their own 'secret' way of making it. And of course choosing the best fresh white scallions as a key ingredient, of a regular and medium size, because the bigger bulbs could turn soft and easily rotted, said Sáu.

The scallions should be cleaned and soaked in lightly salted water overnight and then rinsed several times in clean water, left to drain and soaked again in alum water for a day, before they are dried in direct sunlight so the bulbs are completely withered.

It is later soaked in vinegar for two hours and drained, then mixed with sugar and salt and put in a ceramic jar for 7-14 days to be completed, said Sáu.

The pickles are not only an attractive food, but also a genuine cultural culinary during traditional Tết festival in the south. They are ideal as a side dish with bánh tét, while the pickles can also be stir-fried with beef, mixed with dried shrimp and wrapped in red tilapia, which is then deep fried.

The Sóc Trăng pickled scallions have crispy, light sour-and-sweet taste and are a popular purchase by visitors and guests to the province.

A visitor from Hà Nội, Trần Hoài Ân, told Việt Nam News that the Sóc Trăng pickled scallions are so tasty and they keep for a long time, retaining their crispness and fragrance compared with other pickles.

“Unlike southern people, who eat the pickles with bánh tét, northern people enjoy it with bánh chưng (the glutinous rice square cake) during Tết. My mother likes the pickles so much and they add a nice tang while we are eating more fried food. My mother asked me to order the pickles as a special gift to send to her friends,“ Ân said.

According to traditional medicine, scallions are rich in vitamins and help increase resistance to illness, reduce pain, lower cholesterol and are very good for your digestive system, said herbalist Nguyễn Đức Sáng from Sóc Trăng’s Traditional Medicine Centre.

However, those people who have high blood pressure, suffer from headaches or are pregnant, should limit the amount of  the pickled scallions they eat because they can cause liver disorders and gastric reflux, among other issues, Sáng said. VNS