Doi seeds or Talauma (Hạt Dổi) known as Michelia Tonkinensis A.Chev, are found in some Northwest provinces of Vietnam. They are woody, tall, upright plants with few branches and leaves. There are decades – or even up to century-old Doi trees of up to 30m height which produce excellent seeds. Doi seeds are harvested during September and November annually. The fresh seeds remain red, and turn black after getting dried under sunshine. Their taste is very specific and attractive as well.
Big Doi/Talauma trees
fresh Doi seeds (Hạt Dổi)
How to pick Doi seeds (Hạt Dổi)
Havesting and drying Doi seeds
Their strong acridity and passionate fragrance will leave a long-life memory in anyone right from their first try. Doispice can be applied in different ways in preparing dishes, from baking, stir-frying, soup to preparing sauces. Just a few Doi seeds are enough to make your dishes special.
Doi seeds turn black after getting dried
Typical dishes with Doi seeds in Vietnam
Many foreigners knew about Doispice, including two very famous French chefs Olivier Roellinger[1] and Didier Corlou[2], and “le petit prince des épices” (the little prince of spices) Rudy Smolarek[3] from Belgium. All of them are conquered by Doispice’s aroma and pungency that are totally different from everything they’ve ever tasted. Another swiss chef named Hermann Lienhard already tried Doispice and had a very interesting assessment about it: “The taste is very deep and persistent, well suited to spice up many different dishes. You can give a dish with Doispice that certain something. Doispice reminds me of a spice bag with several different flavors. This is very attractive for many cooks”. Or more recently chefs like Owen Morrice in Scotland, Giulio Bettini in Italy and Daniel Watkins in UK all said that Doispice is an incredible and very different spice.
[1]http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2076587,00.html[2]https://laverticalehanoi.com/spices/[3]https://lacuisineaquatremains.lalibre.be/2010/07/24/rudy-smolarek-lethnologue-des-epices/
Great dishes with Doi seeds by some European chefs
By Owen Morrice
