Published:  10:11 Saturday - July 30, 2016

During the Tet Festival, mut tet is an indispensable dish and contributed to the taste of spring. There are many kind of mut tet which is made from fruit or vegetable.

“Mut” is made from all sorts of fruit, including mandarin oranges, apples, banana, coconuts, persimmons and breadfruit. Vegetables like patatoes, carrots and squash are also turned into “Mut”, as certain types of blossoms.

The most famous variety of “Mut” is made from rose petals or peach blossoms. The raw materials are cleaned and peeled, then soaked in sugar and cooked until dry. Other types of “Mut” have the sticky consistency of jam. Some varieties, like “cu lac” (peanut jam) are covered with a thick layer of sugar, but most have thin layer of sugar.

The colors are often quite intense and people serve different types of “Mut” together, arranged in a colorful display.

Coconut jam

Orange peel jam

Mango jam

Kumquat jam

Ginger jam

Lotus jam

Rose jam in Dalat

In Hanoi, Hang Dieu or Hang Duong Streets in Old Quarter are famous for shops that sell “Mut”. Preserved fruits are masterpieces in these shops. They make all kinds of preserved fruit such as ginger, waxy pumpkin, apple, orange, lemon and carrot in various shapes and colours.