Doi seeds (Talauma) or Hạt Dổi (in Vietnamese) and Mac khen pepper or Hạt Mắc Khén (in Vietnamese) are two specialty spices of the Northwest region of Vietnam. They have a very special flavor of the mountains and forests. Just a little of these spices is enough to make your dish different.
Doi seeds and Mac khen pepper are both very expensive spices and are sought after by many people. But not everyone is brave enough to harvest them.
For Doi seeds, in recent years this plant has been grown in many localities in Vietnam, especially Lac Son, Hoa Binh. This is a large perennial tree with a height of up to 30m. The tree grows straight, with very few branches, so climbing up to pick Doi fruits is very difficult. Local people had to make suitable ladders to aid climbing. As for Doi trees in the deep forest, they only use ropes around the trunk to climb up.
Climbing up is very difficult, but picking Doi fruits is also a real challenge. Local people will use a long stick with a hook attached to the end of it. One hand should hold on to the tree branch and the other hand should use the stick to pluck the Doi fruits. If you use both hands, your feet must cling very firmly to the branch. Picking Doi fruits take a lot of time. Climbers even have to bring food with them to eat on the tree to avoid climbing down which wastes energy. While picking Doi fruits, climbers must always be very careful because even the slightest mistake can lead to a catastrophic accident.
