Memories of my hometown are memories associated with childhood dishes in La Gan (Binh Thanh, Tuy Phong district, Binh Thuan province). Where there are meals cooked by my mother, there is the “childhood soup” - water mimosa cooked with shrimp.
Sometimes just a few small shrimps cooked in soup also have a sweet taste, because that is home, that is mother's rice.
Since ancient times, people in my hometown have known how to pick the young leaves of this plant to cook soup as food. My mother said that water spinach soup can be cooked with anything: luxurious ones can be cooked with meat, field crabs, or sea fish; common ones can be cooked with peanuts, mushrooms, or cooked plain with salt, chili, and a little MSG, and people who eat it all the time will still feel hungry.
Compared to other vegetables, rau lui has delicious and sweet characteristics, but the fate to make a pot of rau lui soup is probably due to the meeting and harmony between a precious food from a remote garden and a product from the sea.
On hot days, during Tet, eating a lot of hot food, having a bowl of water spinach soup will cool the body and make you feel much more comfortable.
If wild water spinach has serrated leaves with a purple tinge, garden water spinach is only a single green color. Because of its advantages of being green, clean, and sweet, today this vegetable is known by many people.
It is picked by the villagers, carefully tied, and sold at the market. Its reputation spreads far and wide, and according to the laws of nature, it follows those who love it to the highlands, plains, cities, and appears in the meals of those who have never heard of it.
Returning to each house, those water spinach leaves are still a lush green color. And of course, water spinach is used as raw vegetables to wrap rice paper, to cook soup with stewed bones, minced pork, beef, crab, shrimp, fish, squid...
Among the foods that can be cooked with shrimp, water spinach soup is the best. In the time when meat and fish are expensive, this rustic dish has been raised to the level of a specialty, becoming a precious gift to treat guests. Water spinach soup is simple but requires the skill and meticulousness of the housewife.
To enjoy the sweet and sour taste, choose green shoots to cook. Pick the fresh green vegetables, wash them, and put them in a small basket to drain.
There are two types of water spinach: wild water spinach and garden water spinach. Wild water spinach is only found in the highlands, deep in the forest. My hometown - La Gan (Binh Thanh, Tuy Phong district, Binh Thuan province) has fertile land, and a lot of garden water spinach.
Fresh live shrimps are still bouncing, cleaned, seasoned. Put the pot on the stove, saute onions and garlic with cooking oil, add shrimps marinated with fish sauce, salt, MSG, pepper... and stir-fry, then add water and bring to a boil over high heat, let the water boil for a while then add the water spinach. When the soup boils again, taste and turn off the stove.
Like other vegetable soups, add some herbs like onions, coriander... don't forget to sprinkle pepper to make the shrimp and water mimosa soup more appealing.
Back in the countryside, on December days, the north wind blew, boats ran to avoid the wind, leaving the sea alone with waves pounding the shore day and night. When the wind calmed down a bit, my father took the opportunity to row a boat and spread a net to catch fish, shrimp... to improve his meals.
Mom quickly carried a bamboo basket around the garden, gently picking the fresh green water spinach shoots. The bowl of natural green water spinach soup mixed with pink shrimp meat, the smoke released the scent of the countryside, giving my sisters and I a full meal.
La Gan's wild vegetable, Tuy Phong district (Binh Thuan province) is not only considered a specialty vegetable but also a valuable medicine. This wild vegetable has the effect of cooling the liver, laxative, preventing mouth ulcers, bleeding gums...
Like other products, rau lui grows wild in gardens, scattered in home gardens, right on paths or along shady banks... Although not fertilized by humans, strangely enough, this wild vegetable called rau lui is always lush green, filled with sparkling dew drops.
Shrimp and water mimosa soup - a dish for country people, for people who have been away for a long time, for city people who suddenly miss their hometown. Such a rustic and familiar dish. My mother said it was a gift from the homeland!
Source: https://danviet.vn/dac-san-binh-thuan-con-tom-tuoi-roi-dem-nau-canh-rau-lui-loai-rau-rung-an-ngon-hon-ca-thit-20250220231018161.htm
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