The Central region is gradually shifting from the sweltering heat of summer to the coolness of the rainy season and tropical depression. People are starting to rush to buy Melaleuca mushrooms because in June and July, the price of each kilo of mushrooms was 40-50 thousand, now it is only around 20-30 thousand.
Not always available, Melaleuca mushrooms are usually in full bloom in the fall. When the seasons change, Hue sometimes has rain and then sunshine, making the semi-mountainous land where acacia, Melaleuca, and elephant ear trees are grown wet. After a few rainy days, people in these areas gather in the forest to pick Melaleuca mushrooms, or rather, pick mushrooms because they are everywhere.
Melaleuca mushrooms only grow for a short time. Melaleuca mushroom spores spread in nature, when they encounter rain that creates suitable humidity, they germinate into mature mushrooms. So recently when storm No. 5 swept through Hue, many women and grandmothers waited for the sky to clear to go into the forest to pick mushrooms in time for the morning market. People in areas with a lot of mushrooms jokingly call Melaleuca mushrooms "gifts from heaven", mushrooms that are not grown but only enjoyed because each season, each family can pick up to several hundred kilograms to bring to the market to sell.
Hue people are famous for their meticulousness in the kitchen, with just "heaven's blessing", in their family meals there are countless special dishes made from Melaleuca mushrooms, such as Melaleuca mushrooms braised with pepper, Melaleuca mushroom soup, Melaleuca mushroom porridge, Melaleuca mushrooms braised with shrimp and meat... (In the cold season, if you have a bowl of Melaleuca mushroom porridge sprinkled with lots of pepper, you don't need to sit on a charcoal stove!). To reduce the bitterness of the mushrooms, housewives will wash the mushrooms in salt water before processing, as well as blanch them in boiling water to remove the toxins inherent in all types of mushrooms.
This “heavenly blessing” does not last long, each season only lasts a maximum of five or seven days. The mushrooms are beautiful on the first rainy days, but if the rain lasts for several days, the mushrooms will rot. After each harvest of Tram mushrooms, people wait for sunny days to dry the soil and rotten leaves so that the next season of mushrooms can grow. Therefore, any tourist who comes to Hue and gets to enjoy delicious dishes with Tram mushrooms is also a lucky thing in their journey.
