DOT CHOAI– WILD VEGETABLES IN THE MEKONG DELTA

Dot Choai is almost everywhere in Dong Thap, especially in alum-contaminated areas like Tan Phuoc. The plant belongs to the family of vines, no matter where the stem goes, the roots will stick to it, it can easily live in lowland areas thanks to its roots having strong water absorption. They grow all year round, but in the rainy season, they will grow more, especially the more they pick, the more young buds will come out. Because it is a wild vegetable, it grows naturally in large groups, so people have to work hard to go deep into each vegetable bush to pick one by one.

When eating vegetables, we only eat the young bud that is still bent, has a green color called a mouse, or eat the part that extends like the tip of a little finger, in addition, we can also eat the bud that has a few sheaths. lazy leaves.

The fruit has a sweet taste, when eaten, it feels a bit slippery like okra, but the taste is sweeter and more delicious.

Poppy has long become a familiar vegetable to the people of the West in meals. The dishes made from this wild vegetable are also very diverse and rich. From popular dishes such as boiled pods with soy sauce for quick meals to get to the field, and it will be more complete if boiled pods have a plate of snakehead fish or deep-fried catfish with a cup of sweet and sour ginger sauce. According to locals, in order to boil the fruit in the most delicious way, before you start boiling the water, you should put some lemon juice in the pot, when the water is really boiling, put the vegetables on the island for 1-2 minutes and then take them out. Immediately, the new buds are green and crispy. More sophisticated can cook stir-fried beef with beef or shrimp stir-fry. To make this delicious dish, you must first quickly blanch the vegetables in boiling water, then drain them. Then sauté onion and garlic, then add marinated beef or shrimp, stir-fry until absorbed, then add in spinach and stir-fry until evenly cooked. Put on a plate, add some finely chopped scallions and ground pepper, with a cup of sweet and sour soy sauce or fish sauce, it's delicious.

In addition, it is also often used by people with hot pot dishes such as sour hot pot, sweet hot pot because of the acrid taste, the characteristic flesh of the buds mixed with other vegetables will make diners feel like. animal. Another way of processing that cannot be ignored is to cook the traditional soup, a very familiar soup to the people of the West. It's called the collective soup because this is a soup that is cooked with a variety of vegetables available in the home garden such as amaranth, purslane, tender vegetables, longan sprouts, spinach, etc., and conveniently picks up a bunch of vegetables. Vegetables used to cook soup must use the young leaves that have come out about 5-7 shells to be delicious. A pot of vegetable soup stocked with snakehead fish or dried perch, choke fish will create a distinct sweetness. If you are a person who likes to enjoy rich dishes, you can add a little fish sauce to the soup to increase the flavor.

If we want to have a basket of fresh vegetables, we have to wake up quite early. When the dew drops are still on the leaves, the farmers will harvest vegetables in time for the morning market. If you have the opportunity to go on Provincial Road 865 and 867, please stop at restaurants, restaurants, and hotels to enjoy dishes made from vegetables. Natural forest vegetables, ensuring cleanliness when eaten, have a characteristic viscous taste that no other vegetable has.