Come to Dong Thap to enjoy dishes made from lotus

Updated date: 08/10/2023 05:18:41

DTO - For a long time, Dong Thap has been known as the land of pink lotus. Not only is it a plant that creates a beautiful landscape, lotus also plays an important role in Dong Thap's culinary culture with rustic dishes that are distinctly unique.

Members of the Ho Chi Minh City Young Kitchen Club prepare lotus dishes at the 1st Dong Thap Lotus Festival - 2022

Mentioning Dong Thap , tourists immediately think of the lotus symbol. This product is a gift that nature has bestowed upon the locality, a mark for tourists to remember the land with generous, simple, friendly and hospitable people; human love imbued with the "lotus soul"... Lotus is noble and indomitable, lotus is simple and familiar, so everyone is fascinated by the gentle pink color of the flower in the middle of the lush green leaves. Lotus is a flower that is familiar and simple but contains a pure, noble beauty and a strong vitality, always rising up in adversity.

Taking advantage of nature, since ancient times, Dong Thap people have known how to use lotus plants for culinary and medical purposes. From the roots, stems to leaves and flowers, lotus plants are processed into all kinds of foods and drinks. The lotus plant has a bitter taste and neutral properties; the lotus pistil (beard) has a sweet taste, warm and astringent properties; the lotus seed has a sweet taste, warm and astringent properties; the lotus shoot has a light taste, neutral properties, and is astringent; the lotus petals have a bland taste, cool properties; the lotus pod has a bitter taste, warm properties.

From medical knowledge about lotus, Dong Thap people have prepared delicious and popular dishes such as: lotus seed rice, lotus root salad, lotus stewed chicken, lotus leaf tea, lotus heart tea, lotus sweet soup, salted and chili dried lotus root...

As a person who is passionate about preparing dishes from lotus, Ms. Huynh Thi Ngoc Lan, residing in Vinh Thanh commune, Lap Vo district, said that in daily meals, her family often prepares many dishes such as: grilled snakehead fish in lotus leaves, lotus soup, lotus root salad... Just the soup alone can be cooked: lotus root stew soup, lotus seed stew soup, sour lotus root soup, lotus root salad with shrimp and meat, lotus root chicken salad... "From ancient times to the present, lotus has great nutritional value in cuisine. On weekends, I often prepare lotus rice. From preparation, cooking to presentation, I do everything very carefully and meticulously to make it both beautiful and delicious. The rice has many colors and the faint aroma of lotus leaves with the sticky taste of premium rice, the sweet taste of vegetables, tubers and lotus seeds. After that, I often serve it with dessert, lotus seed and longan sweet soup, which is a combination of the sweet taste of rock sugar, the fatty taste of lotus seeds and the crunchy taste of longan. These are the ingredients "The simple, familiar ingredients from the lotus plant contribute to the culinary essence of the homeland" - Ms. Lan shared.

According to the representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Young Kitchen Club, the preparation of lotus dishes and the setting of records aim to promote the spiritual value, culinary culture and economic value of products processed from Dong Thap lotus; promote the development of the lotus industry. At the same time, it creates a "mark" for tourism development, builds a local image to stimulate demand and attract more domestic and foreign tourists to visit Dong Thap...

PAGE HUYNH

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