Jackfruit yoghurt takes the heat out of summer

 

Cool and colourful: A colourful bowl of yoghurt, jackfruit and jelly. Cool customer: A bowl of jackfruit yoghurt with ice. Uniquely different: Customers are offered a variety of jackfruit yoghurt deserts, each one unique in its own way. — VNS Photos Truong Vi Minh Coffee Add: 5 Ly Van Phuc Street, Ha Noi Price: VND15,000-20,000 Tel: 093 227 0909 Hours: 6pm-10pm Comment: jackfruit yoghurt is highlighted, free delivery with big order, friendly owner Hoang Anh Coffee Add: 22 Ba Trieu Street, Ha Noi Price: VND20,000 Hours: 4pm-10pm Comment: open air space on pavement, different kinds of jellies are added on jackfruit yoghurt

Jackfruit, one of the country's most popular seasonal fruits, is now being served up as a yoghurt in a number of Hanoian cafes – and it goes down a treat in the heat. Minh Thu reports.On a scorching summer's day, nothing is more refreshing than a glass of ice, fruit and yoghurt mixed together.

The summer in Viet Nam brings cruel heat but also many wonderful tropical fruits. Jackfruit is one of the country's most popular seasonal fruits, so people are sure to fall in love with the newly invented dish, jack-fruit yoghurt.

If you are planning to spend the summer in Ha Noi, jack-fruit yoghurt is definitely a speciality you should try.

I tried it for the first time in the evening, after having a rollicking good time with my friends eating grilled chicken on Ly Van Phuc Street. We left feeling full of greasy food and hot from the smoke of the cooking fire.

We came across a coffee shop advertising jackfruit yoghurt. The dish sounded so strange to us that we decide to stop and taste it.

Hong Minh, the owner of the shop and the creator of jackfruit yoghurt, seemed to read our minds: she immediately offered us glasses of water and introduced it as a new dish for the summer.

Yoghurt with chocolate or nep cam (fermented black rice) has always been popular, but she added jackfruit to the menu to give her customers more options.

"Summer is the season when jack-fruit is most delicious and its price is lowest," she says.

That's why a bowl of yoghurt costs VND15,000-20,000 and is brimming with pieces of jack-fruit and jelly.

White yoghurt, yellow sliced jackfruit, transparent round jellies, colourful square jelly and dark chocolate sprinkled on top make the bowl look like rainbow.

Lovely food in such a bowl really brings us endless inspiration to eat. The smell of the ingredients wakes me up from my summer stupor. Although the dish contains many things, they come together in harmony to create a wonderful taste.

The tapioca pearls are made from the finest cassava flour with coconut inside, and the square ones are made from seaweed. The different colours come from the pigment of leaves and fruits so Minh guarantees that her food is safe and natural.

The friendly owner is willing to instruct her guests on how to make the jack-fruit yoghurt themselves, but it's certainly not easy. If it were, her small establishment wouldn't be as crowded as it is every day.

The shop also serves lemon tea, fruit juice and smoothies, but jackfruit yoghurt is highly recommended.

After our first time, my friends and I became addicted to jack-fruit yoghurt. I rarely leave the shop without enjoying two bowls of it. It not only eases the heat but also fills my stomach. We tried other shops where our new favourite dish was offered and found another great one on Ba Trieu Street.

The owner, Hoang Anh, invents special kinds of jelly with different fillings. While Minh's jackfruit yoghurt has round and square jelly made from flavouring only, Anh makes jelly with chocolate and raisins inside to create a more interesting taste for her guests.

I can't demand much more from a summer snack than a bowl full of jack-fruit, tapioca pearls, and yoghurt. — VNS