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! 

To be honest, I almost forgot this sticky, sweet, sour sauce, topped with flavorful sesame and the golden crispy, tasty chips! The chips have a good smell of fried green onion and shrimp! It look like we have tortilla crisps with tamarind salsa (!) in a Vietnamese style!!!

The combination of sweet, sour sauce with savory chips is something that I never forget after the first try! That was a part of my childhood's memories!

The last one, also tamarind but it's probably a new favorite liquid refreshment served in many coffee shops these days in Saigon!
I tried it for the first time not in Saigon but Cantho! The drink made from the tamarind sauce, ice cubes, roasted peanut and the most interesting is the edible tamarind seeds! Chewy! Nice texture! I tried to catch all seeds in the glass...even it was not mine! Good refreshment!  

                         Tamarind drink, sweet, sour, tasty with roasted peanut and tamarind seeds! 

               A street vendor in Phan Thiết with her basket of tamarind!