Mứt cóc chua cay is a jam made from yellow mombin fruit, cooked with sugar, chilli powder and ginger so it ends up a little sweet, sour and spicy. It’s one of the recipes made in the author’s family; her sister-in-law loved it when she was pregnant. It makes a good Tết treat to share when friends visit, and you can add more ginger if you like. Plan ahead: the fruit soaks for 5–6 hours, sits in sugar for about 4–6 hours, and dries for 2 hours after cooking. Ingredients 1 kg yellow mombin fruits (choose the green-skinned ones) 400 g white sugar 1 cooking lime (vôi), from Vietnamese markets 1 small clove ginger 1 teaspoon chilli powder (depending on your taste) How to make mứt cóc chua cay 1. Make the lime water and cut the ginger Mix the cooking lime into 3–4 litres of cold water. Wait 15 minutes, then use the water on top and pour away the dregs at the bottom. Peel the ginger and cut it into strips. 2. Soak the fruit Peel the yellow mombin fruits and cut them into halves or quarters. Soak them in the lime water from step 1 for 5–6 hours. Then wash them in clean water 3–4 times and leave them to dry. 3. Sugar the fruit Mix the sugar with the cut yellow mombin. Mix well and leave for about 4–6 hours. You can adjust the sugar to your taste. 4. Cook the jam Cook the sugared fruit over low heat. Add the chilli powder and the ginger to the pot and keep cooking over low heat, stirring gently now and then with chopsticks. Cook until the sugar syrup turns golden brown and thick, then turn off the heat. 5. Dry and store Arrange the yellow mombin on a rack and leave it to dry for 2 hours. Store the jam in a glass jar and eat it day by day. Share:
