Listening to the rain, remembering the sesbania flowers

Catching the pulse of the distant Central region visitors who really want to know about this type of flower, the cheerful young driver, from Ca Mau , said: "This is a folk song from my hometown: Sour soup with dien dien and ca linh/ Eaten alone so don't know how delicious it is . Or... dien dien and pickled/ Eaten with a pair of grilled fish, even the king would crave it ."

The sesbania is a type of plant that "floats" when it hears the rising water. After a few weeks of not paying attention, the sesbania grows slenderly, fluttering along the banks of the fields and canals. The color of the sesbania flower is very strange. Saying it is bright yellow, apricot yellow, rich yellow, a yellow that is both rustic and elegant... is not necessarily correct. Scholar Vuong Hong Sen once compared the beauty of the sesbania flower to the girl "Mien Tan".

Water mimosa flower soup

For Westerners, the sesbania flower is not only for viewing but also an ingredient in delicious dishes, to the point of becoming a culinary pride for the Southern region. The sesbania flower can be used alone to make a famous boiled dish with fish sauce and fish sauce, a pickled dish that even the king would crave, or it can be used in many dishes such as sour fish soup, field shrimp salad, stir-fried frog, crab vermicelli soup, and pancakes.

In the "poetic" vein, I echoed a few lines of poet Thanh Thao: "The wild sesban flower opens its hot yellow petals. The afternoon sun soaks into the palm of the hand ". Some people feel "sorry" for the wild sesban flower, saying that the flower is so beautiful and poetic, but stir-frying and boiling it... is that too cruel? The driver argued: "Letting it wither and then throw it away is too cruel. Only food can sustain... poetry. Not just wild sesban flowers, squash flowers, morning glory flowers, banana flowers, roses, and chrysanthemums also enter poetry, and then become dishes on the flood season meal tray".

The flowers are usually picked at dusk. At that time, the flowers are just beginning to open, plump, round, tender, fresh, and radiant. If picked in the morning, when the flowers are in full bloom, alluring and attracting bees, the most quintessential sweet aroma of the flowers will not be left.

The water mimosa flower soup cooked with grilled fish at a roadside restaurant this afternoon left many impressions and emotions in each of us. After being mixed in the soup, the yellow color of the flower faded a bit, but it was still very "fresh". The soup was sweet and sour. The water mimosa flower was also sweet and sour with a little crunchiness. Unlike the sour soup of the Central region (usually with giang leaves, star fruit, tamarind) which is very sour, the water mimosa flower soup of the Western region during the flood season is slightly sour, secretly sour, quietly sour, gently but secretly leaving a "aftertaste" on the tip of the tongue. In other words, the water mimosa flower "entered" me from this pure soup. I ate slowly, slowly to feel, hear, and "record" a pure dish typical of the delta region named after the "nine-branch" river.

Quang Ngai is now in the north wind season. My friends from the West probably don't know that there is a person sitting on the porch listening to the rain and missing the wild sesban flower soup.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/huong-vi-que-huong-nghe-mua-nho-canh-bong-dien-dien-18525010420363561.htm