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Cashew fruit (Hat dieu)
This Brazilian fruit looks like a squishy apple with an odd-looking stem growing out of it. Now aday it is grown from Hue to the South of Vietnam, most concentrated in Highland like Komtum, Dalak.... According to botanists, though, the grayish "stem" is actually the fruit, and it encloses the kidney-shaped cashew nut that we're familiar with.
The cashew apple is the yellowish-orange part that's attached to the fruit. Cashew apples are juicy but somewhat astringent due to a high concentration of tannin. Be careful of the grayish fruit that encloses the nut. It contains toxic oils.
The actual fruit is the nut, the "apple" is a swollen stem. Cashew "apple" is eaten fresh, candied, or stewed. They have a sweet & astringent taste, and are somewhat chewy. The nut itself is caustic until roasted, and they should be roasted outside because the fumes can be irritating. They are very fast growing under favorable conditions, and they can fruit in just two years.
Actually it is becoming a light drug for local people. You will see old ladies selling them on local market in canning or sause and jam
Cashew fruit (Hat dieu)
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