A precious kind of water spinach that can only be found when it rains and how to prepare it, a delicious specialty of Hanoi people

GĐXH - The North has a water spinach dish that can only be found in the rainy season, which is ranked as the most delicious. The way to prepare this water spinach dish is also special, delicious and beautiful. It is braised water spinach strips - a unique way of preparation, delicious to forget all sorrows.

Morning glory - a precious gift only available on rainy days

When I was a child, every time there was a rainy day in the ghost month, or a heavy rain, my mother would chew betel and put on a raincoat, put on a hat, and open the wooden door to go to Hang Be market ( Hanoi ). My mother said that Hang Be market was small but had everything from bunches of vegetables, fish to jars of fish sauce, blocks of dried shrimp paste - especially bundles of green water spinach as big as bundles of straw, brought to sell by women from Thanh Tri, Tu Liem.

Ms. Vu Thi Tuyet Nhung (Admin of Ha Thanh Huong Xua Vi Cu), has 2 types of striped water spinach, shared: "One is, red striped water spinach when boiled quickly becomes soft, delicious to eat, clear water (soaked with star fruit has a light pink color). But when stewed with star fruit or fermented rice, it is less crispy, the color is dark so it is less beautiful.

Second, white-striped water spinach is only delicious during the rainy season. Bring it home and simmer it in a pot of chili for a long time until it becomes crispy, golden, and fragrant. On rainy evenings, the whole family gathers around a dinner table with a plate of braised water spinach, my father raises a glass of country wine, chuckling and praising my mother for being a genuine Hanoi girl who knows how to choose dishes for rainy days. The dinner table of braised water spinach from my childhood is half a century old, but every time the rainy season comes, my heart is filled with deep nostalgia.

Both types of water spinach are grown in ponds and lakes, but only in the rainy season when the water level rises can the water spinach grow quickly and healthily, clean and young. Mom also taught her children not to buy water spinach that is dark brown - a sign that the water spinach has grown in dirty, rotten water and is poisonous to the body.

White-striped water spinach can also be split into salads (like banana flowers, banana stems, perilla, coriander...) in crab soup or fish soup, which is very delicious. Or, simply boiled and mixed with fried shrimp salad, sesame and peanuts is also very interesting.

Red-striped water spinach and white-striped water spinach. Photo from the internet

But the most delicious dish is braised water spinach strips - and Vu Thi Tuyet Nhung continued to share - Her mother often fried garlic and fat over high heat, stir-fried the vegetables until they were half-cooked. Then, she filtered the rice with a bowl of clean water, mixed with a lump of dried shrimp paste wrapped in lotus leaves and tied with yellow straw bought from the market. She filtered the shrimp paste twice to remove all the dirt (old shrimp paste blocks had a lot of dirt), then put it in the pan with a few hot peppers. Covered the pot and cooked for about ten minutes until the vegetables were cooked. At this time, the water spinach strips had absorbed the sour water, changing from jade green to golden yellow. The peppers were bright red. Add a few pieces of fried pork fat and a pinch of crushed garlic, and just the aroma was enough to make your stomach churn.

Morning glory can be found everywhere. In the hot summer, on the Northern rice tray, a plate of boiled morning glory with fish sauce, garlic and chili is almost indispensable. Ms. Vu Thi Tuyet Nhung shared that if there are no morning glory strips, stir-fry them with elephant ear. And garlic and perilla are indispensable spices, also delicious and crunchy.

However, water spinach only appears when the first rains of summer come pouring down, or on the cool days of the seventh lunar month. Perhaps, water spinach carries the breath of the rainy season, so it has a different flavor from other types of water spinach, and is associated with the childhood memories of many children far from home.

Stir-fried morning glory strips with garlic for a fragrant taste. Photo from the internet

The special rich flavor of braised water spinach

Braised water spinach requires sophistication right from the ingredient selection stage: Water spinach must be young white water spinach. The stir-fried fat must be crispy golden pork fat. The shrimp paste must be the dried kind wrapped in lotus leaves brought by the ladies in the countryside. The beauty of this dish is the harmony: the sour taste of rice, the salty taste of shrimp paste, the spicy taste of chili, the fatty taste of pork fat, the fragrant aroma of Vietnamese garlic. All of these embrace each strand of water spinach, turning the rustic vegetable dish into a “rainy season song” on the dinner table.

The aroma rising from the pan of braised vegetables made my stomach growl. Just a bowl of sticky white rice and a few pieces of fried tofu were enough to warm the whole family.

A bowl of braised water spinach strips with fermented rice, shrimp paste, chili, pork rinds, and garlic. Photo: Vu Thi Tuyet Nhung

Recipe for braised water spinach strips with the standard taste of mom's cooking

Ingredients for braised water spinach strips

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White-striped water spinach: 1 large bunch

Batch of rice: 3 scoops

Dried shrimp paste: 1 small block (or 1 spoon of good shrimp paste)

Pork fat: 100g

1 garlic bulb, 2-3 chili peppers.

Seasoning: Salt, cooking oil.

How to make braised water spinach strips

Water spinach strips: Remove the roots, take the young sections, wash and drain.

Make pork fat: Cut pork fat into square pieces, fry until golden brown, remove and set aside.

Mix the rice water: Soak the rice with clean water, filter carefully, mix with the finely ground shrimp paste.

Fry garlic: Add a little fat to the pan, fry crushed garlic until golden brown.

Braised vegetables: Add water spinach and stir-fry quickly until rare.

Pour in the shrimp paste water, add chili, cover, simmer for about 10 minutes to absorb.

When the vegetables turn golden brown, add the pork fat and stir well, season with spices.

Turn off the stove, remove from heat, and serve hot with white rice.

Hanoi has lost many delicious dishes such as specialties. Braised water spinach strips with fermented rice, shrimp paste, chili, pork rinds, and garlic.   For many people, it is only in memory because it is not easy to buy now. During the rainy season before the 7th lunar month, if you suddenly see a bunch of white and green water spinach at the market, stop and buy a few bunches, cook it according to the old recipe, and you will have a delicious meal that will make you feel like you are sitting next to your parents.

Braised water spinach strips are a dish, a childhood memory, a mother's love in each strand of vegetable, each ladleful of rice soup. Happiness is not far away, it's simply a rainy day when the whole family gathers around the dinner table to enjoy a bowl of braised water spinach strips with fermented rice, shrimp paste, chili, pork rinds, and garlic - a heart filled with warmth and love.

Note:

- Stir-fry the water spinach strips over high heat and quickly to keep the green color and crispiness.

- You can add a little satay or chili powder to make the color and flavor of the dish more attractive.

- If you don't like spicy food, you can omit the chili.

- Shrimp paste can be replaced with fish sauce or soy sauce.

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/loai-rau-muong-quy-troi-ban-chi-troi-mua-moi-co-va-cach-che-bien-ngon-dac-san-cua-nguoi-ha-noi-172250819160821053.htm