Tamarind - sour, sweet, spicy snack!

In Vietnamese we have an expression about "the teenage age", we say "age of ô mai" (ô mai means salted pickled plum!), why we say that? Ô mai is one of the most favorite snacks for teenage girls!
Tuổi ô mai (age of ô mai) sounds nice in Vietnamese! But to me, we still jokingly call this age stage - the age of sour tamarind (tuổi me chua)! At this age, everything seems simply perfect for teen, but it's not true! Feelings of love, hate, anger, disappointment, first sexual encounter... start from this age!
So "me chua" or sour taste could make sense! Same as ô mai (umeboshi or pickled plum), tamarind is another favorite snack by teenage girls, and not only girls!

                     Ô mai made of tamarind, favorite sweet snack ...but in the old days.

Last week I went to bún mộc Thanh Mai and my friend told me "You should buy this one!"
What he meant is the popular tamarind stirred in sugar, liquorice, a bit of chili and sugar coated snack! We simply call "me ngào đường" (literally tamarind stirred in sugar)!

                 Tamarind stirred in sugar and liquorice, chili, sugar coated!  

To be honest, I didn't touch this sweet, sour, spicy and flavorful snack for very very long time, since I graduated high school! But today after the first bite, I instinctively keep eating! And not only me, I did offer to some other friends, they do exactly the same thing! Even asked me where to buy!

      

          A simple stall in front of popular bún mọc Thanh Mai at 14 Trương Định, right in the corner! 

Next one - also made from tamarind! I really can't remember when I tried it for the first time!  

From my primary school's canteen or a snack stall in my neighborhood? 

Anyway it was one of my favorite snacks that my little pocket money was never enough for it!