O Mai is a traditional specialty of Hanoi, a simple gift from the countryside that reminds so many children far from home, which is dried fruits mixed with sugar, salt, lime, chili, and ginger to obtain a harmonious taste of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy. The most common fruits used to make O Mai are plum, apricot, peach, dracontomelum, star fruit, tamarind, kumquat, pineapple, and mango.
Referring to Hanoi cuisine, people will immediately think of the sophistication and elegance in each dish from the main dish to other snacks. The dishes in this land always have a light taste, not too sweet, sour or too spicy.
To Hanoi people, O Mai is a quintessential snack to enjoy and to welcome guests during Tet holiday (Lunar New Year). Its flavour is best brought out with a cup of lotus tea. Gradually over time it has become a specialty associated with Hanoi when people talk about this land. In Hanoi, o mai is abundantly sold along Hang Duong Street.
In Hanoi, fruits such as apricots, plums, tamarinds, pineapples, kumquats… can all be used as umbrellas. Its processing process is not too sophisticated, after people choose delicious fruits, they will be processed according to the secret recipe of each house, dried or dried and then sugared. Each type of fruit will give different flavors but sometimes just one fruit can produce many flavors, such as plum, there will be versions such as sour plum, sweet plum, sour plum. spicy, fried plum with ginger… So, “O mai” has hundreds of flavors for you to choose freely according to your preferences.
In addition to the special delicious taste, with its nature as a traditional medicine, it also has the effect of reducing cough and has cool properties. In addition, the high nutritional content in apricot umbrella will help fight dry throat, fight colds, sore throat or reduce stress…
“O mai”is Hanoi’s specialty and is a dear gift that guests from far away can buy for relatives and friends. It is also the beautiful childhood memories of many generations of people in the capital land or the nostalgia of the children living abroad.
