Vietnam has a tropical climate, therefore this S-shaped land is the home of various fruits. Across the country, every region has its signature fruits that can make Vietnam outstanding on the culinary map. If you are fond of fruits, let’s head to Western Vietnam, because you can find lots of fresh fruits in Mekong Delta. Besides, the Mekong Delta region is a favorite destination for international tourists due to its ecotourism and unique cultural features.
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As a downstream area of the Mekong River, the Mekong Delta has an interlaced river topography. The alluvium in the Mekong River is the main source of nutrients for plants. Along with that, a mild climate for around a year is suitable for the formation of specialized fruit-growing areas. There are great factors that have turned the Mekong Delta into the largest fruit basket in the country with a wide variety of fruits such as rambutan, mango, durian, and longan,…
Some typical fruit gardens have made the reputation of fruits in Mekong, famous to both local people and international visitors: Cai Be, Vinh Kim, Cho Gao (Tien Giang), Cai Mon (Ben Tre), and Cu fruit gardens. An Binh (Vinh Long), My Khanh (Can Tho)… Each of the area’s plants specialized fruits, therefore the fruits in Mekong Delta are always of high quality.
Moreover, the government also makes policies for exporting domestic fruits to other foreign countries. With the support from the government and the right plan for improving the fruit’s quality, we believe that fruits in Mekong are undeniably excellent.
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As a Vietnamese idiom “Birds are perch in safe land”, the Mekong delta is famous for its endless green orchards. Let’s start a journey to discover what the special fruits will be in each season. One lovely thing is: that whenever you come to the Mekong Delta, you can easily find suitable fruits for you!
January to March is the time for spring in Vietnam, you can find some kinds of citrus in Mekong Delta.
Location: Lai Vung Subdistrict, Dong Thap Province
Lai Vung mandarin has an eye-catching orange-pink skin and it is harvested during the Tet season, so local people usually buy it to worship their ancestors. This tangerine has a thin peel, some consistent segments, a mild aroma, and a sweet and very succulent. Being rich in Vitamin C, Lai Vung mandarin is very suitable for refreshment or to bring smooth bright skin to women.
Location: Almost in Mekong Delta
Unlike Lai Vung tangerines, sweet tangerines have a green appearance, when being ripe, they will blush with light yellow spots. This is a very nutritious fruit, high in sugar but extremely good for health. The fruit also contains nutrients such as fiber, antioxidants, and minerals,… People also use the tangerine peel as an ingredient in traditional medicine. Trusted by housewives as a cool dessert after every family meal or a big party, it proves that tangerine has a great appeal to everyone who visits Mekong Delta.
Sapodilla, also known as Sapoche or Sapo, originates from Southeast Asia. Sapodilla has a thin brown skin, soft inside, sweet taste, high nutrients, and extremely attractive aroma. This type of fruit is usually harvested by farmers at the end of December. At that time, the fruit is not ripe enough, it must be incubated for 2-3 days to ripen and sweeter. Sapodilla is often eaten directly or you can blend it with condensed milk, the taste will be much better.
>> Discover Sapodilla in Mekong here: Best of Mekong Delta 4 Days
In the period from April to June, visitors can taste most of the signature fruits in Mekong due to its perfect weather for gardening.
Location: Chau Thanh District, Long An Province
Tourists will surely be overwhelmed by the endless and straight rows of dragon fruits. With its coolness, mildly sour, and sweet taste, dragon fruit is not only popular in Vietnam but also exported to foreign countries in large quantities. Moreover, the flesh inside each dragon fruit is incredibly attractive with two types of red and white.
In addition, a small tip for buying dragon fruit is that you should choose the fruit which has bloomed or cracked the left tail, and its beard is still fresh after buying. It is also recommended to leave the dragon fruit to ripen for 2-3 days until the skin is shiny and the skin is thin, then the dragon fruit is the sweetest and coolest.
Thanh Tra is a fruit specialty of the West with a special flavor and unmistakable scent. Thanh Tra has remarkably attractive skin, with a bright yellow-orange color like sunshine in summer. This fruit in the Mekong has a sweet and sour taste, so it is often eaten with salt, pepper, or mixed with sugar to create a very delicious refreshment for the hot summer.
When traveling to the West in summer, visitors will encounter Burmese grape gardens with ripe berries dangling from the branches. When being ripe, the fruits are pale yellow, juicy in appearance, and have a very attractive sweet and sour taste. Visiting some local orchards, tourists can not only hand-pick the attractive Burmese grape right on the branches but also learn how to make other dishes and drinks from this fruit such as Burmese grape chicken, pickled berries,…
Location: Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Vinh Long provinces
An Phuoc plum is a favorite fruit of many people because it is both crispy, and sweet, and has a compelling look in red. When buying, visitors should choose hard, evenly stretched plums with dark red skin, because they will be very sweet and easy to eat. The ripest plum season is around April – June, but gardeners often treat the tree to produce fruit in the opposite season so that people can eat this fruit all around the year.
Durian is famous for being an ugly, thorny fruit but has a seductive scent that perfumes an entire area in the Western garden. The sweet taste, the attractive dark yellow color, and the plump and greasy durian segments have captivated many visitors from near and far. Visitors who want to have a delicious durian should choose the fruit with round thorns and must have a fragrant aroma. After buying the durian, visitors should incubate it for about 2-3 days until the fruit is available. If you smell the strong aroma and see the tail cracked into small grooves, let’s enjoy it immediately.
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Location: Soc Trang province
Purple longan is a specialty fruit of Soc Trang and the West because of its special look. Not only the longan is purple, but from the leaves to the body, there is a compelling purple color. The purple longan has thick ivory-white flesh and has a sweet aroma and taste. The season of longan ripens around the end of June every year, so visitors should not ignore this unique fruit.
Location:
Western tourists from June to July will be able to see firsthand the rambutan gardens in the red ripe season. Rambutan has 4 different varieties such as normal rambutan, peeled rambutan (Java), longan rambutan, and Thai rambutan, which are all very interesting. Tourists who choose rambutan must choose clusters with hard, fresh fruits.
Location: Ben Tre province
Mangosteen season is most ripe in June – July and is grown a lot in the West, but Ben Tre is considered the “kingdom” of mangosteen. This fruit grown in the Mekong Delta produces large fruit, very thin skin, and extremely sweet and aromatic flavor, with many segments inside. They are very good for health, so it is often chosen as a gift for relatives. Delicious mangosteen is a fruit with brown skin, not bruised, right rolled is still green. A small tip to see if mangosteen has many segments, visitors can see the “flower” at the bottom of the fruit. So the number of petals of the flower is the same as the number of segments inside.
Location: Ben Tre province
Originating from Ben Tre, this pomelo has long become one of the Western fruits that tourists want to enjoy the most. Grapefruit has green skin, when being ripe, it will have yellow-orange spots with very beautiful red-pink pomelos. Green grapefruit is also famous for its sweet and cool taste, high nutritional value, and good for health. Once you eat it, you will love this fruit.
A good grapefruit must be a fruit that has just been picked for a few days, so it is still succulent and has a stretchy grapefruit peel. Tourists should not choose the pomelo which is too large, because the larger they are, the easier to be tasteless they are. The grapefruit with around 1.5 kg is commonly savory.
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From October to December, you can still find many juicy fruits in Mekong.
Location: Vinh Kim commune, Chau Thanh district, Tien Giang province
When talking about specialty fruits of the West, one must mention a famous and delicious fruit, which is Lo Ren star apple. The star apple is green and a little purple in the tail, which is very special. The outer shell is glossy with a faint milky smell. In particular, the flesh has very little latex, so it has a very delicious sweet taste. The ripe star apple season is around October-December, visitors can come to the garden to manually pick and enjoy this tree that is like a mother’s heart.
If other fruits prefer fertile alluvial soils, watermelon is a different fruit when choosing sandy soil to grow. Watermelon is grown according to international standards in the sandy land of Long An, which is famous for its sweet, delightsome taste and few seeds. In particular, the fruit has thick flesh, thin skin, and beautiful stretch. Today’s Long An watermelon is distributed to many places in the country and globally, when you see the brand “Long An Watermelon”, visitors do not hesitate to buy it for the family to enjoy.
King orange is a fruit grown a lot in the West, has a high vitamin C, and is used for squeezing juice. It is easy to recognize the other oranges because the outside of this fruit has a rough green skin. When the orange is ripe, the peel has yellow-orange spots, has a sweet and sour taste. In addition, it is succulent and has many seeds. Therefore, traveling to the Mekong Delta without enjoying a glass of cool orange juice is a pity.
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You can come to local orchards in some provinces to visit and taste the freshest fruits right there. However, there is another exciting thing to buying as many fruits as you want in just 1 place: go to a market. So Cai Rang Floating market is exactly for you. This is a unique kind of market, in which you can visit multiple stores on a ship. The seller is also the driver, and he or she can help you choose the most suitable fruits. If you have time, you can hire a boat to go shopping across the river and enjoy the picturesque scenery by taking photos.
Location: 46 Hai Ba Trung Street, Tan An Ward, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho city
>> Discover more about Cai Rang Floating Market here: Sai Gon – Cai Be – Can Tho – 4 Days
In conclusion, there are lots of specialty of fruits in Mekong, have you found your favorite one? We hope that the information in this blog will help you to choose the best fruits in Mekong for yourself. Moreover, according to the season, we hope that you can decide the time to visit the Mekong delta and have the seasonal fruits in its best period.
About us, Asianway Travel is one of the most trusted inbound travel agents in Vietnam. If you are interested in Mekong Delta or have any difficulties in planning your trip, please contact Asianway Travel. We’re all looking forward to giving you the most inspiring experience as a local.