Specialty green mangosteen salad, flying to Hanoi, the price is still high, still competing to buy

As a specialty fruit in the South, green mangosteen intestines are extremely expensive, up to more than half a million dong per kilogram, still being bought by people.
At this time, mangosteen begins to be in season. Besides the ripe red, sweet, and succulent mangosteen fruits with prices ranging from 45,000-80,000 VND/kg, mangosteen with green skin, crispy intestines, cool slightly sour taste is sought after by many people.

Notably, this green fruit is also extremely expensive, up to 480,000-650,000 VND/kg. Ms. Nguyen Hong Hanh – a focal point selling fruit in Ho Chi Minh City, said that ripe mangosteen is familiar to many people. But few people know that the green mangosteen is still a rare specialty dish, because the collection and preliminary processing takes a lot of effort. Moreover, because there is only one season each year, the price of this fruit is not cheap. Therefore, every year in the season, Hanh also takes mangosteen in Binh Duong, Tay Ninh, … to sell. Both green and ripe mangosteen are available. Green mangosteen – a southern product that is more expensive than ripe mangosteen (photo: NT) With unpeeled green mangosteen, she is selling from 80,000-95,000 VND/kg. Particularly, peeled mangosteen is extremely expensive, up to 550,000 VND/kg. Because, it takes about 4-5kg of fruit to get 1kg of intestine, not to mention the peeling time also takes up to 1.5-2 hours. Green mangosteen pulp is often used to make salads. Because the fruit is still green, the skin is quite hard and has a lot of latex, if the buyer does not know how to prepare it, the mangosteen will be black, eating acrid. Therefore, she often peels it for customers to buy and process it and preserve it for longer. To make a delicious salad, according to Ms. Hanh, do not choose young or overripe fruit, but must choose those with green skin but old enough, the skin has a tan that is ripe enough, the mangosteen flesh inside will be crispy. Sweet, moderately sour, firm, with a strange acrid taste. In particular, when picking the fruit, it must be peeled and preserved immediately, if left 1-2 days late, the mangosteen will not be able to make salad. “This year, the mangosteen crop failed, so every day I only picked 30-40kg of green mangosteen. Customers who want to buy ready-made peeled fruits must order 1-2 days in advance, I mobilized family members to peel them in time. As a matter of fact, there was a time when I sold a few quintals of this type of mangosteen,” said Hanh. Green mangosteen flesh costs over half a million dong/kg (photo: NT) Ms. Tran Thi Hien – the focal point of selling mangosteen in Binh Duong – shared that mangosteen is grown in many localities, but the most famous delicious is Binh Duong mangosteen. This is also the place where the chicken mangosteen salad is strange, anyone who eats it once will always remember it forever. Because there is only one season each year, lasting from May to the end of June, many people take advantage of this time to order to enjoy the best green mangosteen. Ms. Hien said that the preliminary processing of green mangosteen is very elaborate because the skin is hard, easy to drain, and harder to peel than ripe mangosteen. So, just peel and wash under the tap to remove the pus. The processor must be skillful, otherwise the mangosteen will be crushed, not keeping the whiteness. While ripe mangosteen prices range from 70,000-80,000 VND/kg, pre-cut green mangosteen costs up to 480,000-650,000 VND/kg depending on the time. Even at the beginning of the fruit season, there was not much fruit, the price of mangosteen guts peaked to about 800,000 VND/kg, but there were still no goods for sale. Green mangosteen is used to make salad, but it is not always available to buy and eat (photo: NT) “Every day, I collect 15-20kg of mangosteen intestines, no matter where I peel, customers will order there, so the goods always keep their freshness and crispiness. It is estimated that I can sell about 1 quintal of mangosteen/day,” said Hien. Because it is quite expensive, people often buy 0.5-1kg of fruit pulp or buy 2-4kg of unpeeled fruit. Many guests from the North want to enjoy this specialty, she has to peel it and then send the plane out. Because if you leave the skin of the fruit, it will ripen quickly, lose the crispness and deliciousness characteristic of green mangosteen. Having enjoyed the mangosteen chicken salad for the first time during his trip to Binh Duong 2 years ago, Mr. Le Quang Chien from Duy Tan (Cau Giay, Hanoi) admitted: “The sour, sweet, and acrid taste of mangosteen has ended. Combined with salad dressing and sweet chicken meat, it is quite strange to eat, creating an unforgettable flavor. Since then, every time when mangosteen season comes, I ask my friends in it to send it out as a drink for guests.” However, in order to choose delicious green mangosteen fruits, he must order 2-3 days in advance to have them with extremely expensive prices, up to 600,000 VND/kg of mangosteen flesh. Therefore, each season he only dares to order 2-4kg of green mangosteen to spend with guests, called to enjoy a bit of Southern specialties, Mr. Chien shared.