My four siblings and I grew up thanks to our parents' hard work, perseverance, and frugality, so our kitchen was always bustling with activity for lunch and dinner. Among the many simple, traditional dishes that have become deeply ingrained in our memories, there is the pickled eggplant that my mother used to make for the whole family whenever the eggplant and other small eggplants were in season.

Illustration photo: phunuonline

In the early 1980s, the jar in the corner of my kitchen was used almost year-round. My mother never let the jar rest, depending on the season. From around March to August, the jar was usually used to make pickled eggplant and small eggplants. In winter, she made pickled cabbage, and near Tet (Vietnamese New Year), she used the jar to make pickled onions and pickled shallots... All the pickles my mother made were delicious, but my siblings and I liked the pickled eggplant the most. The pickled eggplant she made was chewy, crispy, not too sour, not too salty, and went perfectly with crab soup or boiled vegetable broth. Each season, my mother made dozens of jars of both pickled eggplant and small eggplants for the whole family to eat. Because meat and fish were scarce at that time, pickled eggplant was almost the main dish for my family.

My mother shared her secret to making delicious, crispy pickled eggplant, often telling my sisters: Choose eggplants that are just the right size, not too young, not too old, and still fresh. Then, dry them in the sun for about 2-3 hours; wash the jar thoroughly, turn it upside down to dry completely; put the eggplants in the jar and pour diluted salt water over them until they are completely submerged, add a little ginger and garlic, and place a stone that fits the mouth of the jar on a bamboo woven mat to press them down. After about 3 days, the eggplant pieces turn light yellow, reaching the right level of sourness and crispness, and are ready to eat. Therefore, every year my father plants a few rows of eggplant, both for cooking and for making pickled eggplant to eat gradually.

Decades have passed, but that jar of pickled vegetables from all those years remains deeply etched in the memories of my siblings and me. Nowadays, there's no shortage of pickled eggplant and other vegetables, even pickled eggplant available year-round. But during the hardships and scarcity of those past years, it was our mother's jar of pickled vegetables that nourished us, leaving a lasting impression on us.

Nowadays, there are many ways to make pickled eggplant, but I think the traditional way my mother used to make it is still the best. The flavor of my mother's pickled eggplant has always lingered in our minds throughout our more than thirty years in the military.

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/van-hoa/van-hoc-nghe-thuat/nho-vai-ca-cua-me-1029103