Especially for Bụi,
For many Huế people, bịp bịp fruit (pronounced “beep beep”) is a simple and nostalgic gift from the old days when we ate more locally-grown and wild fruits and vegetables. Although it shares the same family with rambutan (known to the Vietnamese as chôm chôm), bịp bịp fruit’s flesh is yellow instead of white and it’s more juicy and sour. Bịp bịp fruit is slightly smaller than rambutan but the soft spines covering its skin are longer. When I sent my friend, Bụi, a picture of the bịp bịp I bought from the nearby market this morning, she seemed to jump with joy to see it. She said she hadn’t savored its sweet and sour taste for almost 20 years! She asked me to save some for her as she missed the fruit of her childhood so much. I decided not to keep a few for her but rush back to the market and buy her a whole bunch which was actually the last one (I didn’t expect the “fruit of memory” to be sold so well)! And this photo essay is also for her, my kind and lovely friend.
