27/03/2025
"The Vietnamese name for Palmyra palms—"thốt nốt"—might sound unusual to some ears; it originates from the Khmer word "th'not", which some locals mispronounced as "thốt nốt". This tree has a straight trunk, an average lifespan of up to 100 years, and can grow up to 30 meters tall. All of its leaves are concentrated at the top, forming a round canopy. The tree starts to bear fruit and produce sweet sap when it is about 30 years old. An interesting fact about male palm trees is that they feature flowers but do not bear fruit, so people often climb them to collect sap from the flower pistils. Sweet palm sap is collected during the dry season, from November to April of the lunar calendar annually. The harvest season can be earlier or later depending on the weather. Climbers must be healthy, careful, hardworking, skilled in climbing high under the scorching sun, and proficient in cutting the bunches of fruit to collect the sap.
The locals transform sweet palm sap into sugar by using a cast iron skillet over a fire in a red clay stove. Ten liters of sweet palm sap are simmered for several hours to produce 1kg of naturally sweet sugar without additives. The process involves continuous stirring until the sugar thickens and attains its characteristic yellow color. It is immediately removed from the heat to prevent burning, poured into a cylindrical mold, and cut into slices. The slices are wrapped in Palmyra palm leaves, following the traditional Vietnamese method of making Tet cakes (Vietnamese cylindrical sticky rice cakes).
The Seven Mountains region is a popular tourism destination. Rows of towering Palmyra palm trees welcome travel-lovers, allowing endless photography opportunities to capture the beauty of the simple local lifestyle. The palm tree is also an inseparable part of Khmer people's lives, primarily cultivated for its sap, sugar, and flour, which provide a stable income for the community. While many traditional crafts are fading, palm sugar production remains stable, forming a specialty in the Seven Mountains area in particular and An Giang province in general."
Video: Trung Khiem Tourguide
Source: Internet
