Dragon fruit bread: An instant hit in Vietnam’s bakery market

Bright pink breads made from dragon fruit have recently become hugely popular in Vietnam, winning much favour from customers. Creative bakers have figured out how to take advantage of the diversity of fruits in the country, partly thanks to the coronavirus outbreak.

Dragon fruit bread: An instant hit in Vietnam’s bakery market

As metric tonnes of Vietnam’s dragon fruit and watermelon have been barred from being exported to China due to the epidemic, local bakers have debuted new types of breads that use fruit as one of the main ingredients, to roaring success.

To support farmers, Kao Sieu Luc, founder of ABC Bakery in Ho Chi Minh City, added pink dragon fruit to his breads to enhance the flavour while also helping to buy the unsold fruit. The idea came to him during a recent trip to the Mekong Delta region, where he saw many ripe fruits left unharvested on dragon fruit farms.

“After a lot of trial and error, I found the perfect recipe for delicious loaves of dragon fruit bread by replacing 60% of the water used in making the dough with a dragon fruit smoothie,” Luc said.

Customers have described the bread as having a crunchy crust and a slightly sour taste with a beautiful colour that makes it stand out from normal bread.

VNS