A wild fruit in the south, often mistaken for neem, only the people of Hunan can tame it, have you ever eaten it?

Introduction: A wild fruit in the south, often mistaken for neem, only Hunan people can tame it, have you ever eaten it?

In summer, many fruits ripen. And in the mountains in the countryside, there are also all kinds of wild fruits, and they are also ripening one after another.

If you have rich experience in the countryside, you will always be rewarded when you go to the mountains this season, and you will still be full. These wild fruits may not look good, but they are all natural green foods. The key is that they still taste very good. Delicious and nutritious.

However, today I want to introduce you to a different kind of wild fruit. It is only available in the southern region, and it looks very similar to neem, and is often referred to as neem. But it has become a delicacy in the Hunan area, and only Hunan people can tame it. Have you ever eaten it? It is sour jujube.

This sour jujube is not the sour jujube

Sour jujube, this is a kind of fruit grown in many places, and of course there are many wild ones in the mountains. However, the sour jujube mentioned by the author is not the sour jujube that many people understand, and it has nothing to do with jujube.

The scientific name of this sour jujube is Nan Suanzao, which is the fruit of the deciduous tree of the family Anacardiaceae and Nan Suanzao. The sour jujube is a plant of the rhamnaceae jujube, and it is also a variant of the jujube.

South sour jujube is only available in the southern region, and it is estimated that it is also to distinguish it from sour jujube, so the word "South" is added, and it is also called five-eyed fruit, five-eye, and snot fruit in the folk. This tree looks like a terrifying plant in the countryside, the sumac, because they are all of the sumac family, and can reach a height of more than 20 meters. The trunk is straight, the bark is gray-brown, and the leaves are odd feathers. Compound leaves alternate.

Nansuanzao also blooms in March and April in spring, and the fruit matures in August and September, and its fruit grows very distinctive. People who don’t know it will regard it as the fruit of the neem tree, because the two grow really well. It's so similar, even the size of the head is very similar.

The immature southern sour jujube is green, and gradually turns yellow when it matures. However, it has no pulp. The outer skin is very thick, and the inside is an oversized core. There is only a small amount of pulp on the core. These characteristics are very similar to neem.

There are more distributions in the south, only Hunan people can tame it

Nan Suan Jujube is distributed in many places in the south, such as Hunan, Hubei, Fujian, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces, mainly because this plant has strong vitality. It often grows in hillsides, hills or valley forests at an altitude of 300-2000 meters. However, it is basically dominated by wild species, and few farmers will specifically plant it.

However, the southern sour jujube distributed in most provinces is rarely picked and eaten. After the fruit is ripe, it falls to the ground and then rots naturally. Only in Hunan, people in some places regard it as a delicacy, and often pick it up and make it into a delicacy to eat.

Why do you say that foreigners can't tame it? One of the big reasons is that it is too sour. Even after this wild fruit is ripe, it is the kind that loses its teeth. It smells a little mango, but tastes really drooling. Even people who like to eat sour will lose their teeth in three or five.

Moreover, Nan Suanzao has no flesh at all, and only a very small amount of pulp is still attached to the core, which is very difficult to eat, which means that it does not taste good.

But in Hunan, this wild fruit is still very popular. Not long ago, I saw on the Internet that a host was selling this kind of fresh fruit in the live broadcast. A box of only half a catty was sold for 35 yuan, which is more than 70 yuan per catty.

The Hunan people are competent for the sourness of the southern sour jujube, mainly because the local people will make it into various delicacies to eat. The more common one is the sour jujube cake, which is also the most common snack for countless rural children when they were children. . At present, some places in Hunan have made it a special snack. The more famous ones are the sour jujube basil cakes in Changde, Shaoyang and other regions.

Although it looks like a dark dish, people who haven't eaten it will think it's made from cow dung wrapped in flour. But people who know the goods know that it is very delicious, and the price of a pound in the market is seventy or eighty yuan. And this kind of sour jujube basil cake is made of southern sour jujube, basil and other ingredients.

It is said that in ancient times, when there was a famine, it was used to satisfy the hunger. In many rural areas in the past, in the autumn and winter, every family would go to the mountains to pick up the southern sour jujube, and then use it to make the sour jujube cake. In this way, during the Chinese New Year, it became a gift for entertaining relatives and friends, as well as visiting relatives and friends. It is also a snack that children often eat.

However, because the production of this kind of food is too complicated, and the labor cost is also high, coupled with the improvement of living standards, there are more snacks and fruits that are usually eaten. At present, few farmers do this. But if you can make sour jujube cake, it is still very popular to sell in the market, and the profit is also very considerable.

concluding remarks

In fact, although Nan Suanzao has no pulp and tastes very sour, its value is not small. This kind of fruit can also be used to make wine, and its large core can be used for bracelets and as raw materials for activated carbon. .

Its bark and fruit can be used as medicine, which has the functions of anti-inflammatory and detoxification, hemostasis and pain relief. Because this tree grows fast and grows tall, it is often planted as a fast-growing afforestation tree.

But it is a pity that after the southern sour jujube matures in most places, it is dropped and no one picks it up, because too many people can't eat its sour.

It's about to be the ripening season of South Sour Jujube. Fans and friends, do you have this kind of wild fruit in your hometown? Have you ever eaten? If you have strong hands-on skills, you can really try to make it into sour jujube cake to eat, the taste is very good.