An exhibition of ornamental creatures was organized in Vu Thu district in Thai Binh province on April 29 – May 3 which attracted many ornamental plant collectors.

Special attention was paid to a sanh tree named ‘Dai the van tung’, believed to be original in Vietnam.

The owner of the sanh tree is Phan Van Thai from Nam Dinh. He said ‘Dai the van tung’ is 75 years old and he bought the tree from a gardener in Thai Binh three years ago. The tree is 3.6 meters tall and 2.9 meters wide.

Asked about the name, Thai said ‘Dai the’ means a big ornamental tree. Meanwhile, the canopies are compared with clouds on the sky, which means ‘van’. And the standing posture of the tree is like that of a pine tree, so he gave the word ‘tung’ (pine) to the name.

The tree is also called ‘cay be dat vang’ (tree in gold plated pot), because it is grown in a pot plated with 5 taels of 9999 gold with value of VND185 million as defined some years ago. The owner said the tree is valued at VND20 billion.

Precious fish valued at VND300,000 per kilogram

Many people may not know about ca mat (Onychostoma gerlachi), because it is a species of clean fish which can only live in areas with clean water or waterfalls.

Ca mat in Tam Hop (Nghe An) is  2-3 fingers in size. The biggest fish weighs 500-800 grams.

In the western part of Nghe An and Tam Hop commune, ca mat is caught from rivulets in upstream waters, so it has a special taste. The fish is used to process specialty dishes.

In the past, only poor people ate the fish because it was cheap, but now, it is favored by well-off people. Ca mat is sold at online markets at VND290,000 per kilogram.

Famous fish head noodle shop in Hanoi

The special shop on Hong Phuc street in Hanoi is a favorite destination for foodies. Twenty two years ago, when the shop opened, its owner Luong Thi Luyen sold bun ca (vermicelli with grilled fish). However, unlike other shops, Luyen used ca tram (Ctenopharyngodon idella) for the dish instead of ca ro phi (Oreochromis).

However, at that time, the shop was poorly patronized and fish heads were thrown away, which was a big waste. Luyen decided to process fish heads into original dishes.

The fish head is sliced vertically in half, and after cleaning it is fried on low heat to create a special dish, favored by many people, especially drinkers. Clients can order what they want. Each serving is priced at VND40,000-150,000. Luyen consumed 1,200 kilogram of fish each day.

Woman cultivates unusual rice variety

Fleeing the big city for the countryside, Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga, born in 1986, has turned a wasteland into a farm where she develops clean agriculture and green tourism.

Nga, who was an office worker with good salary, left the city for the hometown to cultivate rice and buy an old brick kiln. Many people thought she was daft.

Nga decided to grow purple rice on the 2 hectare field because she believed the soil was suited to that variety of rice. 

Purple rice is considered the ‘king’ of rice varieties with high nutrition level and detoxification substances. However, the production cost is high and not many localities can grow purple rice. The cultivation method for purple rice is nearly the same as other rice varieties. However, Nga does not use chemicals during cultivation.

Largest bee’s nest, hot pot with fish sauce in Ca Mau

On April 29, the Center for Culture, Media and Sports in U Minh District (Ca Mau) publicly reported  the largest beehive in Vietnam. 

The hive weighs 43 kilograms, 2.2 meters long, and is 1 meter wide. It is expected to give 15 liters of honey. It belongs to Muoi Ngot eco-tourism site. 

Another Vietnamese record was also recognized for the largest hot pot of fish sauce. The hot pot, 125 centimeters in diameter, 40 cm tall, which can contain 45 liters of water, was big enough to serve 300 diners.

Bao Anh