Unique cucumber varieties that Vietnamese housewives are hunting for
Cucumber varieties with strange shapes such as long cucumbers like snakes, big cucumbers like thermoses or tiny cucumbers are sought after by many housewives.
Cucumbers are long like snakes.
Recently, social networks have been buzzing about a strange type of cucumber, long like a snake. Many people will mistake it for a squash at first glance. Not only does the shape of the fruit resemble a squash, but even the leaves and yellow flowers also resemble a squash.
Actually, this is a fruit that looks like a squash but is actually a cucumber. This type of cucumber is a variety of American snake cucumber because the stem is long and curved like a snake. A snake cucumber is usually about 30-40 cm long, with some fruits being up to a meter long.
Many people commented that this cucumber variety is crunchy but has a slightly bland taste, and the seeds are slightly sour. This cucumber variety can be eaten directly, in salads, cooked in soup or stir-fried, all of which are very crunchy and delicious.
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| Cucumbers are as long as snakes. Photo: Viet Q |
Many people were quite surprised when they first saw a snake-shaped cucumber that looked like a squash. This fruit is not yet widely grown or sold in Vietnam. In the market, customers can only find snake cucumber seeds, which are sold for 25,000-35,000 VND/50-70 seeds.
Cucumber as big as a thermos
Previously, the cat cucumber variety as big as a thermos also made Hanoi women curious, so they bought it to try.
It looks exactly like a cucumber but the weight of the cat melon is huge, from 0.8-1kg/fruit, some even weigh up to nearly 1.5-2kg. This cucumber variety has been grown by ethnic people in the Northwestern provinces for decades. This is a native melon variety, intercropped with corn on the fields.
When growing this type of melon, there is no need to make a trellis for the cucumbers, they will crawl right onto the ground. Each melon plant usually has 2-3 fruits. June is the beginning of the harvest time, and the season will end in late July and early August.
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| Each cat cucumber is many times bigger than a normal cucumber. Photo: Viet Q |
The outside of the melon is smooth and shiny, the skin looks exactly like a cucumber. However, when you cut open the melon, you will see that the melon has a solid core, thick flesh, is crunchy and sweet.
Spiny cucumber
A few years ago, Hanoi women also went crazy over a strange type of cucumber with many sharp thorns. At that time, thorny cucumbers were quite expensive, 395,000 VND/fruit (1.6 million VND/kg) but were still sold out.
Kiwano horned cucumber, also known as prickly cucumber, originates from Africa and is grown in many tropical countries such as Chile, New Zealand, USA, Japan, etc.
This cucumber variety has a yellow skin, with many sharp thorns on the outside, the fruit is about 10cm long, the inside is green, with many seeds, it looks unlike any other cucumber in Vietnam. The thorny cucumber fruit weighs an average of 250g, with some weighing up to 0.5kg.
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| Strange cucumber variety with thorny skin. Photo: NVCC |
Spiny cucumbers are expensive because they are imported directly from Japan. In Japan, spiny cucumbers are grown using organic methods, ensuring safety, quality, delicious, even, and beautiful fruit.
Tiny white cucumber
A few years ago, tiny white cucumber seeds were sold by many stores and online seed shops and attracted the attention of customers.
According to some seed shop owners, this is a Miniature White Organic Cucumber variety originating from the US. The taste of the melon is quite similar to common cucumbers, the only difference is the color.
The miniature cucumber is 4-6cm in size (quite similar to many varieties of baby melon in Vietnam). When the fruit is not ripe, it will be green and gradually turn white when harvested. According to seed shop owners, the reason this type of cucumber is popular with many housewives is because it is crunchy and has a sweet and cool taste. The cucumber can be used to make salads, juices... to cool down in the hot summer.
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| Tiny white cucumbers are sought after by housewives. Photo: Knowledge and Life |
The price of tiny white cucumbers ranges from 2.5-4 USD/kg, 5-6 times more expensive than green cucumbers sold on the market. Many people also buy tiny white cucumber seeds to plant. This type of cucumber is suitable for growing in pots in townhouses because the plants are short. The planting and harvesting time is from 48-55 days. The price of tiny white cucumber seeds is advertised for sale from 40,000-50,000 VND/package (10 seeds).