Anyone who has visited the western part of Vietnam will never forget the specialties of this area. Among these, a popular dish of the area is salad made from cu hu dua (coconut core). 

To make the salad, the locals cut down a young coconut tree and take its core which is white and covered by a thin layer of capsules. The material is sweet, fresh, cool and highly nutritious, especially in minerals, and it is good for the digestive system. The ingredients for the dish include the coconut core, shrimp, pig ears, onions, carrots, cucumbers, red chili, laksa leaves, roasted peanuts, garlic cloves, sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice.

Ingredients to make the salad. 

Coconut core is sweet, fresh, cool and highly nutritious, especially in minerals.

Salad with coconut core.

The coconut core, carrots and cucumbers should be cut into thin strips. The shrimp should be steamed before being cut in two and the pig ears are boiled and sliced. Mix the prepared ingredients with main sauce which includes sugar, seasoning powder, chili sauce, ground chili, coriander and lime juice. Top the dish with roasted peanuts and fried dried onions.

Le Ngoc Quan, chef of Cho Que restaurant said that  has traveled all over Vietnam and prepared many traditional dishes but when making the salad with cu hu dua, he is very inspired. All the ingredients are combined to create a mouth-watering salad imbued with western Vietnam flavors.

The western area of Vietnam has of 13 provinces, including many provinces with 90% of the area involved in growing coconut trees, such as Ben Tre (over 72,000ha), Tra Vinh (nearly 20,000 ha), Tien Giang (over 14,000ha) and Vinh Long (over 7,000ha). There are many local specialties made from coconut, including the salad with cu hu dua.