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Summer calls lotus back - An Giang Online Newspaper

Báo An GiangBáo An Giang23/06/2023


In the pond nothing is more beautiful than lotus

Lotus lives on mud and water. Just drop a cluster of lotus and it can grow to cover a square pond or swamp. Lotus is an easy-going species, but its value is extremely precious. Everything on the lotus plant is useful, lotus root (lotus shoot) has the medicinal name "lien nguu", shaped like cassava, white, hollow inside. When broken open, there are 6 small tubes inside with thin silk threads like spider silk. Lotus shoot has a sweet, cool taste, detoxifies, clears heat, cures hangovers, Hanoi women often use it to make salads, stewed pig's feet, pigeons, black chicken to nourish the body, cure headaches, insomnia. Lotus leaf is also called "ha diep", bitter taste used in traditional medicine, cures many women's diseases.

Lotus leaves are also a beautiful coat in the chilly autumn weather with Com Vong. Just think, on the sidewalk, a woman lowers her load, the shoulder pole is curved, both sides of the basket are covered with lotus leaves, opening up the scent of young sticky rice of Com Vong. Gourmets only choose the light green young sticky rice, which feels cool to the touch. Com must be wrapped in lotus leaves to have an incomparable aroma. The vendor is familiar with Hanoi gourmets, when wrapping the com, he is very skillful so that the com fits neatly in the lotus leaves, takes out a few yellow straws on the basket and carefully ties the package and hands it to the customer. Not yet finished, eating Com must have bananas, the national egg bananas that only exist in the chilly autumn months. The Com vendor lifts up the tray, each bunch of fragrant bananas, the yellow-spotted skin makes any diner unable to resist buying them with the Com.

Everyone knows the lotus. “In the pond, nothing is more beautiful than the lotus/ Green leaves, white flowers, and yellow pistils…”. But this verse only refers to one of the four types of lotus. The white lotus, called “white lotus”, is the rarest. The white lotus has a prominent fragrance but does not form seeds, and is only used as a flower for ceremonies, offerings, or in vases, so few people grow it. There is a type of pink lotus used to make tea, this type also does not set seeds or has flat seeds. The remaining type has seeds, is often used to make lotus jam and no one chooses it to make tea because if the pistil is removed, the source of seeds is also lost. The last type looks like a lotus, causing many people to mistake it for a lotus, but it is actually a sunflower. The sunflower is different from the lotus, only the observant or Hanoi women who are connoisseurs of flowers can distinguish it. The petals must be separated, around the flower base there are many small petals hugging the lotus mirror to be a true lotus. The sunflower also does not have seeds, but its strong fragrance is completely different from the faint scent of lotus. Therefore, sunflowers are also used a lot in worship and in vases in the living room.

Near the mud but not smelling of mud

During the lotus season, around the West Lake in Quang Ba, there are ponds where people release lotus flowers on the water surface. The lotus flowers bloom brilliantly in red, pink, and dotted with white, attracting photographers to capture the most beautiful flower of the summer. People even build huts to harvest lotus with the steps of taking the pistil to make tea.

Lotus pistils are yellow pollen-covered tendrils nestled close to the lotus bowl (mirror) in the middle of the flower, the most precious part of it is the tiny, pure white “rice grains” on each tip of the tendril used to scent tea. I have a friend who is addicted to lotus tea, of course in his house there is always a box of tea scented with that pure flower. Once he invited me to enjoy lotus tea with him, which only Hanoi tea connoisseurs can have.

Early in the morning, when the red rays of dawn were just appearing on the horizon, we were already at a tent on the West Lake Palace. The owner of the lotus pond rowed out to pick the lotus flowers still wet with night dew and separated each flower, inside were tea petals embracing the golden lotus pistil. Looking at the way the owner made tea, I knew he was a true lotus tea drinker. I am not a tea connoisseur, but when I held the cup of tea to my mouth, I was captivated from the very first moment. The lotus scent gave off an indescribable, intoxicating aroma, making me feel like I was lost in a mystical, quiet place, where somewhere I could hear the sound of a temple bell. Looking out into space, I saw a lotus pond full of flowers and leaves… this hobby requires a lot of effort and not everyone can enjoy what they have.

Lotus flowers are only available in summer. Therefore, from early morning, women carry baskets of lotus flowers rolled into large bundles on the streets. Then, bicycles carrying baskets of lotus flowers in various colors, white, red, pink, still covered with dew, wait for customers on the roadside. Hanoians love freshness, so they buy them to decorate their living rooms. After the lotus flowers have shown their full beauty in the 3 summer months, they begin to wither in autumn, withered leaves drooping to the water surface and the stems reaching up, leaving lotus cups waiting to offer their last precious crystallization - lotus seeds.

When the lotus has completely withered, people pick the bowls to get the seeds to make lotus seed jam. The women who specialize in making jam are very experienced. Whether the lotus jam is delicious or not depends on choosing the right type of lotus grown in the North such as Hung Yen, Bac Ninh, Hanoi... Lotus in these areas will give round, plump seeds, while slightly long and large seeds are brought from the southern provinces.

Lotus jam is a precious and luxurious product for Hanoians, used in engagement ceremonies, gifts, Tet holidays... and is the quintessence of the culinary culture of the people of Trang An since ancient times.

According to Capital Security



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