The most common thing you’ll say as you walk around a Vietnamese market is “What is that?”
I lived in Vietnam for a year, and one of my favorite things to do was walk around the markets. It wasn’t until I met local Vietnamese friends who enjoyed taking me to markets, that I could actually get answers to that frequently asked question. That’s how I started learning about all of the different fruits in Vietnam.
I’m a fruit person…I love all fruit. It’s so refreshing to bite into a sweet, juicy piece of fruit when it’s always sweltering hot outside (as it always is in Vietnam)! There’s an immense amount of unique fruit in Vietnam that I had never seen before. I felt like each month I’d learn about and try another new fruit that was in season.
Table of Contents
10 Vietnamese Fruits You Likely Don’t Know About
To assist you as you travel through Vietnam and SE Asia – here’s a little more information about the fruit in Vietnam that you’ll see. Don’t be afraid to spend the spare change, haggle on a price and try some of these delicious new fruits! (I’ve included the English and Vietnamese name on all of the items!)
1. Bumpy Apples: Mang Cau Tamg
I love Bumpy Apples! The hard outer shells are peeled off and expose a firm apple/pear like fruit that’s very sweet.
2. Mangosteen: Quả Măng Cụt
I’ll never forget trying my first mangosteen. I first saw them stacked high on carts along the road and wondered if they were plums. The purple-ish round fruit was completely foreign to me. My friends urged me to try it and I was hooked. You peel off the hard exterior, and you’ll find delicate white (somewhat slimy) wedges of fruit with a pit in the middle. They are just the right amount of sweet and like nothing I’ve ever tasted before. And no – they taste nothing like a mango. You just have to try one to believe how delicious they are!
Mangosteens need lots of good sticky humidity to grow, so they are perfect for Vietnam’s climate.
3. Rambutan: Chom Chom
Rambutan look a bit scary, but they taste wonderful! It looks as if they live at the bottom of the sea, but they actually come from a tree. Break off the colorful, hairy outer shell and you get to sweet fruit inside that looks like a pear.
4. Water Coconut: Dua-Nuoc
Water coconut is a relative to the standard coconut. You find these in the Mekong Delta and they taste just like a regular smooth coconut! I have seen these around Saigon for a while now and never knew what they were! They look quite menacing, but don’t be afraid to give them a try!
5. Tamarind: Me
Tamarind is used for many things. You’ll often find it used for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It’s said to be good to fight off cancer and diabetes in Asia. It can also be eaten plain as a fruit. You just peel off the hard shell and get to a soft, sticky, red fruit with a small pit in the middle. It has a bit of a sweet/sour taste.
6. Persimmons: Hong
Persimmons are filling the markets right now. They come from Dalat and are juicy and yummy! They can either be eaten raw, dried, fresh, or even cooked. There are a few different varieties – soft or crunchy. I prefer the soft – texture of a tomato, but it tastes much sweeter!
7. Longa: Nhan
For some reason when I eat longa it reminds me of the fall in the US; It tastes like mild cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Peel off the thin outer shell and eat the fruit inside. Good, small, sweet treat!
8. Durian: Sau Rieng
Durian, the king of fruit. You can read about my experience trying durian here. You can find it everywhere in the markets now – or should I say – you can smell it everywhere in the markets now! Eaten alone, in shakes or ice cream – the smelly and squishy fruit is an acquired taste for sure! And I never really acquired it. However, I gave it the old college try – I tried the ice cream and cakes and tried it raw – and still wasn’t fond of it.
9. Coconuts: Dua
Ah – my favorite all-purpose fruit! Coconuts are everywhere in Vietnam! Cold drinks, jellies, and shakes. Plus, you can’t beat the fresh milk!
10. Dragon Fruit: Thanh-Long
I still remember seeing endless rows of colorful, pink dragon fruit as I road the bus to Mui Ne. These fruit definitely have personality on the outside – pink leaves tipped with green, but I find the inside a bit bland unless they are eaten in season!
Mystery Fruit
I never did figure out what this strange looking fruit was. Heck, I’m not sure it was even a fruit! Let me know if you see it or find out any more information on it!
Vietnamese Fruit Scavenger Hunt
Now since you know all of these new colorful fruits, why not make a game out of it when you are visiting Vietnam. Walk around a local market and see how many of these pieces of Vietnamese fruit you can find!
Then go a step further and buy and try each of them! And if you use the Vietnamese name when talking to the market vendor – you get extra points. The vendors will be so impressed and surprised they may even throw in a few extra.
After all, the way you learn about a new culture when you travel is by trying new things and interacting with the locals the best you can. In my experience, connecting over food is a great way to travel deeper into a country like Vietnam.
By Nora - The Professional Hobo November 10, 2009 - 10:42 pm
I love food too, and love exploring native fruits as you do! I recognize (and have tried) everything except the water coconuts, and I’ve never eaten tamarind as a fresh fruit.
I like the bumpy apples (also known as Atemoya in Hawaii and Custard Apple in Australia) best when they’re actually soft on the inside. I cut them in half and scoop out the insides with a spoon, spitting out the large black seeds.
Yum! Gotta go find some fruit now!
By Sonia November 11, 2009 - 8:54 am
Love this post! It took me back to our explorations in the markets of Singapore, Bangkok, and Malaysia. I couldn’t get enough bumpy apple (also heard it referred to as “custard apple”) and rambutan (which we think looks like Sputnik). Sampling local fruits, even the sketchy ones like durian, is one of my favorite parts of travel.
By Mark H November 11, 2009 - 1:54 pm
I also adore fruit and also food markets, so it is a wonderful double. In SE Asia, the range is staggering and the mood of the market is part of the fun. Rambutans are a pet favourite and some of the fruit juiced (have to watch that they don’t add water or ice though) is so sweet.
By Donna Hull November 11, 2009 - 6:09 pm
While in Vietnam last month, I visited a fruit orchard in the Mekong Delta. Coconut is my favorite. Chicken that I am, I avoided the Durian. Wish I had carried a copy of this post with me. It’s very hard understanding all of these exotic fruits.
By admin November 12, 2009 - 2:49 am
@donna – it took me 2 years in Asia to finally try it – well worth the wait…ha!
@mark – Actually in HCMC you can drink the water and have the ice in the majority of restaurants – it’s filtered. I had a mango shake there with ice practically daily! A rare fact that people dont know about HCMC.
@sonia – rambutan as sputnik…I love it!
@nora – yeah – I never new you could eat tamarind as a fruit either, but it was really yummy!
By Lilliy November 12, 2009 - 4:07 am
Great post. I love trying new fruits too.
My favorite sightseeing in any city or village is to visit their local market. I love the bargaining and the local crowd along with the many colorful fruits and vegetables. Its always cheaper to buy at the local market than in any shop.
You placed photos of two of my favorite fruits too, Rambutan, and Tamarind.
Tamarind is actually used here in Jeddah in so many ways. They eat it as something to nibble on the salted packed ones, in Ramadan its a popular fruit drink, they love using it as the marinate sauce with backed fish or just a s a side sauce beside fried fish with black rice ( sayadiah) its so amazing.
Lilliy K.
Twitter @funlilliy
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By heidi November 13, 2009 - 1:45 am
Some of these fruits I haven’t seen, but I would like to try it.
By Barbara at Hole in the Donut Travels November 13, 2009 - 10:56 am
I broke out in a rash just looking at a picture of the Rambutan – severely allergic. Wish I wasn’t because they’re so delicious! Durian? Never quite got up the courage. Would like to try the crazy looking coconut, though. Think my favorite exotic fruit is Snakefruit from Bali.
By Anil November 21, 2009 - 7:11 pm
The fruit in SE Asia is awesome. There were so many natural foods and fruit to eat I never knew existed before.
By Tony November 24, 2009 - 11:30 pm
The “Bumpy Apples” are my favorite and could be the one single object I miss most about Vietnam. I loved it so much I brought it into work and my co-workers used to tell me that eating it would give me pimples. At first I hesitated, but then I realized as much as I really dislike getting huge pimples, especially on my nose =(, eating this fruit was freakin worth it.
That’s how much I love mang cau.
By Huong Vu December 12, 2009 - 11:10 pm
I love to read all of your entries about VietNam. Im Vietnamese and now living in USA. That’s funny and very lovely. Thanks a lot !
By admin December 13, 2009 - 12:21 am
@Huong – thanks so much – I’m glad you are enjoying my take on your country! I really did love it there, The culture is so different from my own (American); every day there was interesting and usually included some sort of revelation such as “I can’t believe they do THAT!”
By Toan Nguyen December 9, 2012 - 11:55 am
I like this article. I am a Vietnamese and I also like fruits. These are some of the fruits that are not mentioned in this article and they are also really good: Mangosteen, Jack Fruit, Star Apple.
By Sherry December 10, 2012 - 7:01 pm
I adore mangosteen!
By Toan Nguyen December 9, 2012 - 11:56 am
Missing: Mangosteen, Jack Fruit, Star Apple
By Fruitarian June 17, 2018 - 6:16 am
The “longa’ or “nhan” is actually called Longan.
It is very tasty, and with a musk flavour.
By Toni R Morgan November 30, 2020 - 5:10 pm
Orange fruit is Gac to make sticky rice according to my Vietnamese friend!