Clean, healthy, salted

"Addictive" salted fig jar according to mother's recipe. Photo: HV

For the 8X generation growing up in poor rural areas, figs are certainly not unfamiliar. The small fruit has an astringent taste, growing in clusters around the tree trunk.

The small green fruit turns red when ripe and then turns deep purple when it is at its sweetest. As children, we were fascinated by both the crisp astringent taste of green figs and the sweet aroma of ripe figs.

On summer afternoons, the whole village of children gathered together to play marbles, hopscotch, jump rope, and go fishing, then pick figs to dip in salt.

We often choose to climb fig trees with a diameter that can be hugged by a person, their shade covering the entire pond bank or the cool space at the head of the village to gather.

The feeling of being high up on a tree branch, picking a bunch of figs that are so full that you can throw them down to your friends who are eagerly waiting below is strangely enjoyable. Unable to resist the temptation of the young figs, I brought them to my mouth and bit into the crispy fruit before sliding down to join the group.

A basket full of figs with a bowl of crushed salt and chili made everyone exclaim. The whole group gathered around to eat deliciously. The sound of figs crunching, laughter, and lively conversation. Childhood passed so quickly, under the shade of fig trees and the cool wind of the fields.

My mother often picked bunches of green figs, salted them in jars, and stored them for later consumption. That was one of the thousand and one ways mothers managed to feed the whole family during the time of poverty. But we all “received” this delicious dish. In the summer, a bowl of crab soup with jute leaves and a bowl of salted figs made the meal surprisingly delicious.

Mom carefully instructed me to cut the figs into pieces and soak them in salt water to reduce the sap. Bring the pot of salt water to a boil on the stove, add a few spoons of sugar, stir until dissolved and let cool.

Meanwhile, we also helped my mother go to the back garden to pull up some lemongrass roots, dig up some ginger, add a handful of chili peppers, and peel garlic.

Mom prepared a large jar, put the figs in layer by layer, then sprinkled salt, sugar, lemongrass, and sliced ​​ginger on top. She kept stacking the layers like that until the basket of figs was empty.

The pot of salt water and sugar has cooled down, so pour it over the jar of figs and put a clean stone on top before closing the lid. Two days later, when you open the jar of figs, the aroma will be so fragrant. The pickled figs can be eaten for a whole week.

There is also another way to eat it faster, which is to pickle it. The figs are washed, sliced, soaked in salt water, and drained. The accompanying spices include lemongrass, chili, garlic, sugar, salt (or seasoning powder), fish sauce, and lime juice.

Mix everything together to let it soak, before eating, add some sliced ​​lemon leaves. The light astringent, crunchy taste of figs, sour, spicy, sweet mixed with the aroma of lemon leaves is a simple yet extremely attractive dish.

Nowadays, when life is full, when meals with fish and meat are too much, people start to look for these rustic dishes to change the taste. Some people love this attractive, clean, healthy dish, but we are addicted because of the taste of memories, the whole childhood flooding back.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/sach-lanh-sung-muoi-3140046.html