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Vietnam's Royal banana
Update: 12/26/2012
Royal banana is called "chuoi ngu" in Vietnamese, visitors to the northern province of Ha Nam should not miss the chance to enjoy "Royal banana", a banana variety that grows best in the area.
According to locals, the fruit, whose name means “royal banana,” got its name in the 13th century. Legend has it that when a Tran king was on his way to his homeland in a nearby area - now Nam Dinh Province - people in Ha Nam brought their specialties to offer him. A poor farmer couple in Dai Hoang Village only had a bunch of ripe bananas from their garden to offer him. To their pleasant surprise, the king loved the wonderful flavor and taste of the fruit and asked locals to grow more of it. And since then this banana has been called "Royal banana", and used to be chosen to make offerings to the sovereign.
"Royal banana" is small and has bright yellow skin and a sweet smell when ripe, and, of course, a wonderfully sweet taste.
Though the fruit can be seen all year round, summer and early autumn are the best times. Visitors to Dai Hoang Village during this period will have a chance to enjoy this specialty and the peaceful, green rural scenery.
“We are very proud that our land is home to this precious banana variety,” a local man named Hoang Trong Dung told us when we visited the village. “Our banana was not only a favorite fruit for the Tran kings but has also found mention in many famous films and novels.”
Taking a tour through the village, we were amazed by the lush banana gardens and fields that run around the vast ponds and lakes. The alluvial soil nurtured by the Chau Giang River, a branch of the Red River, is believed to infuse the special flavor and taste to chuối ngự.
“We usually grow new crops in spring, and thanks to our rich soil, we do not have to use much fertilizer, just mud from our ponds,” Dung said. “However, ripening bananas is a complicated task that requires experience. Due to their very thin skin, we have to cut the unripe bunches, and ripen them carefully by burning rice husk or incense.”
That is why the fields and gardens were still green while the banana markets were full of bright yellow fruits. Apart from being sold in local markets, chuối ngự are also very popular in neighboring provinces like Nam Dinh and Thai Binh.
The demand for the fruit has increased especially during Tet and on the first and 15th of every lunar month.
“People are not only buying chuối ngự to put on the altar to offer their ancestors, but also choosing them as a special gift to far-away friends and relatives,” Dung said.
Growing stronger
While talking about his village’s specialty, Dung said that though their banana had always been treasured, there were times its popularity was low.
“I can remember one time during the 1980s when we had to chop off the trees to create land for rice,” Dung remembered. “The trees had nearly disappeared from our fields and gardens.
But now that they are no more threatened by hunger, people grow the banana again, not only to preserve a precious variety but also to earn a stable income.
Since 2001 a project to preserve and develop this banana, funded by the UNDP’s Global Environment Facility, has helped expand the fruit-growing area to neighboring villages, turning them into areas specializing in growing chuối ngự.
The royal fruit has been granted an appellation of origin by the Office of Intellectual Property under the name “ Royal Dai Hoang banana,” and this is expected to take it to places it has never previously been.
Source: ThanhNienNews
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