Pickled eggplant, a taste of the countryside.

"When I leave, I remember my homeland / I remember the water spinach soup, I remember the pickled eggplant with soy sauce." For millennia, pickled eggplant has remained a simple, familiar dish to every Vietnamese person. As a son of the homeland of the hero Saint Gióng (Phù Đổng commune, Hanoi), who ate "seven baskets of rice, three baskets of pickled eggplant, and drank a whole section of the river in one gulp" to grow up quickly and defeat the invading An army, I have a deep love for pickled eggplant and for family meals filled with warmth and hometown affection.

Northern-style pickled eggplant, with its crisp texture, rich flavor from the salt-soaked eggplant, the spiciness of chili peppers, and the aroma of galangal, has captivated many. People in my hometown often say that when summer arrives, a simple meal of boiled water spinach with sour starfruit and a few pickled eggplants is enough to make one feel happy and joyful.

The 2026 rice cooking, rice ball making, and pickled vegetable offering competition for Saint Gióng will be held in Phù Đổng commune.

Vietnamese meals now feature many more appealing dishes. Pickled eggplant is no longer the main dish as it was in hard times, but rather an addition to the flavor of home-cooked meals or a novel twist on restaurant dishes. For me, pickled eggplant is not only associated with family meals but also with many other memories. There's the story of Gióng, a young elementary school girl, marveling at the legend of Gióng eating a massive amount of rice and pickled eggplant to defeat the enemy. There are the village festivals (the Gióng Festival at Phù Đổng Temple), where people in my hometown make rice and pickled eggplant to offer to Saint Gióng at the temple and in their homes. There are the summer afternoons after school, when I curiously learned from my grandmother how to pickle eggplant so that it was delicious and crispy...

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Eggplants used for pickling can be either round eggplants or small eggplants, but my family still prefers small eggplants. I still remember my grandmother's advice from years ago: "Choose green eggplants that are not too young, not too old, and uniform in size. After buying them, let them wilt slightly in the sun; they will be much crispier." I often helped her gently scrape off the outer skin and make four cuts around each eggplant to create small segments so the eggplant would absorb the flavor and ripen faster. She taught me how to make the pickling brine: Take boiled water, mix it with salt while it's still warm, and wait for the brine to cool. She put the eggplants in a clean jar, alternating them with crushed garlic, sliced ​​galangal, and chili peppers. She used a bamboo sieve to press them down tightly, then poured the brine over the eggplants, closed the jar, and left it in a corner of the kitchen. "The tighter you press them down, the flatter and crispier the eggplants will be when they ripen," she said. Now, my grandmother has passed away, and the recipe for pickled eggplants she taught me will remain with me forever.

My family meals were often simple, consisting of pickled eggplant, a plate of water spinach, boiled meat, and a bowl of vegetable broth... yet they were so warm and joyful. The pickled eggplant and the family meal evoked in me memories of the love, hard work, and skillful care of my grandmother and mother, and the strong bonds of family. From those family meals, with everyone present, sharing pickled eggplant, and the constant care and concern for one another, the experiences and life lessons taught by the adults nurtured my soul and character.

The simple dish of pickled eggplant evokes in me a deep appreciation for family, for my homeland, and a deeper love for the skin color and blood I carry. Perhaps, no matter how far I travel, eating a bowl of white rice and savoring the rich, pungent flavor of pickled eggplant will fill my heart with affection for my family and my beloved peaceful countryside.

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Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/van-hoa/doi-song/ca-muoi-dam-tinh-que-1046545