Today’s A Journey through Aesthetic Realms will be presented in Aulacese (Vietnamese), with subtitles in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

O friend, come to my homeland. Enjoy watching the blue sea stretching to the horizon.
Hear the waves roaring in the ocean. Wind blows at the casuarina on shore.
Boats sail over the waves to sea, sparkling under rosy sunlight.
In the southern region of our country, coconut orchards extend to the horizon.
Young women brimming with youthful love are graceful and adoring life.
Young men aspire to be as great as the sea, reaching out to build Earth and Heaven.
Springtime arrives in our motherland. Sweet sugarcane, green tea, and white blossoms carpet the hillside.
Green rice paddies are like sea waves undulating. From the distance comes a lullaby.
Green rice paddies extend as the egrets fly. Water is brought to our rural villages.
Beloved Âu Lạc has lush bamboo groves. Streams flow through tea orchards to the river.
Rivers merge into the wide sea. Young people fully enjoy their lives.
Spring arrives, uplifting spirits and reviving hopes. My country Âu Lạc shines gloriously.

You’ve just enjoyed the song “Âu Lạc, My Homeland” by composer Đỗ Nhuận with vocals and dance accompaniment by our Association members from Âu Lạc. This song praises an abundant, beautiful Âu Lạc and the hospitable, gentle, vibrant people who are of one heart in building their nation.

Âu Lạc, a beautiful country situated in Southeast Asia, with sub-tropical climate, is graced by Mother Nature with green plants and sweet fruits, all redolent and delectable throughout the four seasons. Depending on the weather conditions and culinary preferences of each region, the local people have skillfully created many savory dishes.

In our program about Aulacese traditional cuisine, we are pleased to introduce the specialty foods of a land known for its freshness and abundance. Indeed, at a public lecture in the United States in March 1991, Supreme Master Ching Hai especially praised the rich natural resources of Âu Lạc.

“Âu Lạc is among the most enriched nations in this world: there are mines of gold, silver, uranium, lead, zinc, and tin. Âu Lạc has everything. There are morals, piety, harmony, and four thousands years of civilization. It is one of the most ancient countries in the world.

Our land has always had abundant foods and fruits. I remember when I was a student there, there was a great variety of fruits when I went to Bình Dương and Long Thành. And rice! Aulacese indigenous rice, called Tám Thơm, is the most famous in Southeast Asia and in the world. There are also other products, dried or fresh, that are most popular in the world.”

We are deeply grateful to Supreme Master Ching Hai for her treasured words and boundless grace for the nation and people of peace-loving Âu Lạc.

Candied food is a dish made from fruits and roots cooked with sugar to a proper level of dryness. The fruits and roots used in making candied food are plentiful, each having its own unique color and flavor depending on the ingredients used. Âu Lạc is blessed with agricultural products year-around, thus allowing the Aulacese to create a wide variety of candied fruits and vegetables.

Since the Prince’s wedding, how many kinds of candied foods have we had?

Let me see: candied ginger, squash, coconut, kumquat, gooseberry... O God, so many I can’t count them all.

And they’re all tasty!

Every time I have candied foods, I remember the day the Prince disguised himself as a civilian to go sightseeing.

What a strange wind, all of a sudden!

Where’s the Prince?

Could he possibly been blown away? What!?

Tam! Tứ!

Nobleman, whom are you looking for?

Oh, good! Could you please show me the way out of this forest? (Yes.)

It’s so hot! Could we rest here for a short while? May I ask how you earn a living in this wilderness?

I make candied foods, and once in a while, take them to the market to exchange for rice.

Candied foods! What are those?

This is candied pineapple made from pineapple. Please have some.

This food meets royal standards.

What did you say?

Oh, I mean it’s delicious!

It seems that any kind of fruit can be made into candied food by the Aulacese, such as candied pineapple, candied strawberry, candied gooseberry, candied kumquat, candied jackfruit, candied apricot, candied peach, and candied papaya. Roots can also be made into candied foods such as candied sweet potato, candied water chestnut, and candied ginger. Among the seeds, there are candied white cowpeas, candied lotus seeds, and so on. The sea-grown algae can also be made into candied gracilaria.

We must go now, or it will get dark.

How strange! It’s such a delicious food, yet I’ve never heard of it before.

I learnt to make this candied food by chance too.

O Elder! Are you all right? Please have this cake to ease your hunger! Is your home nearby? Let me help you home.

Elder...

I am the goddess in charge of this region. I only tested you to see if you’re worthy of what I will bestow upon you. Come with me!

I will show you how to make a delicious dish. It’s candied pineapple. You’ll surely like it. To make candied pineapple, we need 1 pineapple and 150 grams of vegan sugar. First, peel the pineapple.

Remove the nodes on it. Cut the pineapple into bite-size slices like this. Help me remove the pineapple’s core.

Squeeze the pineapple to remove the liquid.

Add sugar, mix and leave it for about 3 hours so that it absorbs the sugar evenly. Place the pineapple in the pan cook with low heat. Occasionally, remove the bubbles to keep it clearer, until the vegan sugar becomes sticky, then take the pineapple out to let it dry. Then take it out to sun dry the surface. Now, go bring the candied pineapple in. (Yes.)

Keep it in a jar for later use. Try it, dear! (Delicious!) You can make candied foods from many other vegetables and fruits, anything you like. May you be happy always!

Candied pineapple!

Nutritional Benefits of Candied Fruits and Vegetables.

Candied food is delicious and pure. In addition, according to the Aulacese Department of Health’s website “Health & Life,” many candied foods are said to be beneficial to our health. For example, candied lotus seeds are nutritious and act as a tranquillizer; candied tomato contains a lot of vitamins A and C, which are helpful to a malnourished person, and also relieves heat and thirst.

Candied kumquat is used as a refreshing drink and to treat a cough and aid digestion; candied coconut helps as a laxative; candied sweet potato detoxicates and treats pimples; candied tamarind relieves nausea and thirst; candied ginger detoxicates, relieves nausea, stimulates digestion, treats stomachache and coughs, and warms our body on chilly days.

Follow this road; it’ll take you out of the forest.

Thank you.

I still have some candied squash and soursop. Take them because it’s still a long way!

Candied squash is crispy with a sweet and cool taste, and it is used a lot in cakes such as moon cakes and sweet rice mooncakes. Another very popular candied food is candied soursop which has a sweet and sour taste.

Candied soursop is simple to make, and the recipe will be shared with us as follows. The ingredients to make candied soursop are 1 soursop and 300 grams of vegan sugar. Choose a ripe soursop and peel it. Rinse it once to reduce the sourness and squeeze it dry. Add sugar and leave for about 1 hour. Then cook on low heat and stir evenly. When the mixture becomes glutinous, remove it from the stove to let it cool. Pick soursop out piece by piece. Sun dry it for about 3 days for it to turn dry and clear.

Greetings, Your Highness!

This is candied soursop. Please enjoy!

Tam, Tứ! (Yes.) Any news about the young woman who sells candied foods?

If only Your Highness asked her name and address, it would be less troublesome! Now you tell us to look for a kind looking girl, but then all girls in the capital city would rush out to claim themselves as kind-hearted!

Delicacies are plenty… Why are you concerned about candied foods, Your Highness?

Watch your words! Candied foods are secondary. It’s the candied food maker that’s important. How super “smart” you are!

Đà Lạt can be said to be the capital of candied foods in Âu Lạc. There are about 30 other special kinds of candied foods that are only found in Đà Lạt which are made from strawberries, plums, and persimmons. Sweet potatoes are also made into candied foods with many forms and flavors such as candied soft sweet potatoes, crispy sweet potatoes, and ginger sweet potatoes. Agricultural products such as beans, carrots, potatoes, and squashes can also be made into candied foods.

Your Highness! Are these what you meant?

It’s candied food indeed! Is the candied food seller still there?

She said she must go home because it’s getting late.

Prepare the carriage for me to leave right away!

Wait, Miss! His Highness the Prince wishes to see you.

My respectful greetings, Your Highness.

I forgot the recipe for making candied foods. Will you show me again?

Yes.

Depending on the ingredients used in making candied foods, each kind of candied food has its own unique color and flavor. Candied foods are especially convenient: candied foods for breakfast, for family picnics, as children’s healthy snacks, as fine treats for guests, and as simple yet nutritious gifts. Candied foods enrich a compassionate vegan lifestyle. Such are reasons why candied foods are indispensable in the lives of the Aulacese.

Thank you for watching our program introducing Aulacese candied vegetables and fruits. Please tune in to Supreme Master Television for more on Aulacese specialty food and traditional cuisine in future broadcasts. Coming up next is Vegetarianism: The Noble Way of Living after Noteworthy News. Farewell.