Like fern, wild spinach, and bo khai vegetable, stinky vegetable (also known as gai vegetable, pac nam, and monkey grass) is also a popular wild vegetable in the Northwest region.

This vegetable appears a lot in some provinces such as Dien Bien, Yen Bai, Lao Cai, Son La, Tuyen Quang... and gradually becomes a specialty loved by both locals and diners in the lowlands.

Rotten vegetables are considered a famous specialty in the Northwest, as delicious as other wild vegetables. Photo: Nha Bong

Ms. Mai Hoa - owner of a restaurant specializing in serving Northwest specialties in Son La city said, it is called rotten vegetable because it has a strong, characteristic pungent smell.

When the vegetable is fresh or just picked from the tree, the smell is very strong, standing dozens of meters away, it is still difficult to smell. However, after a while of picking or processing, the smell of the vegetable gradually decreases.

Ms. Hoa said that in the past, rotten vegetables were often collected naturally by local people from the mountains and forests. However, now, this type of vegetable can be grown in home gardens and grow well.

In particular, like many other wild vegetables, the more you pick the rotten vegetable, the more it grows, and the plant will produce more new stems.

“Rotten vegetable is very difficult to care for, it has thick thorns, high branches, people have difficulty weeding and sometimes it is damaged by insects. Depending on the weather, this vegetable has bad harvest years, very little harvest, but in good harvest years the yield is better,” said Ms. Hoa.

Rotten vegetables when still on the plant or just picked will have a very unpleasant smell. Photo: Dung Thi Ma
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The leaves of the rotten vegetable are small, young and fall easily, so people only package and sell them in bunches, not by weight because they are very wasteful. Photo: Nha Bong

From March to June of the lunar calendar every year is the time when rotten vegetables are at their best. At that time, the plants produce many young leaves, and people often pick the tops and young leaves to sell or prepare dishes.

According to Ms. Hoa, rotten vegetables are ingredients that can be used to make many delicious and attractive dishes such as stir-fried eggs, fried eggs, stir-fried bamboo shoots or stir-fried garlic. In addition, people in the Northwest also use rotten vegetables to cook soup, make salads, and eat to cool down and relieve indigestion.

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Stir-fried stinky vegetables is an easy-to-make but delicious dish, loved by many people in the Northwest. Photo: Hoa Ban Food

This wild vegetable is also easy to prepare. When picking rotten vegetables, just be careful because the top part has small thorns but is quite soft. Then, pick off the young top part. Strip the rest of the leaves, like picking Malabar spinach.

“Rotten vegetables are similar to durian, with a strong characteristic smell. Those who try them for the first time may not be used to them, but once they get used to them, they will like them and want to eat them again,” Ms. Hoa shared.

Despite its “smelly” name, rotten vegetables are said to have a fatty, rich, and nutty taste, making them more appealing the more you eat them. Photo: Ma Quang Gau

This woman added that if you want to preserve the characteristic flavor of rotten vegetables, you should process them immediately after picking and buying them. Only then can you clearly feel the natural sweetness and the strong odor of this vegetable spreading in your breath.

Not only is it a popular ingredient in the Northwest, the locals also consider it a nutritious delicacy, with the ability to treat bone and joint pain, headaches, and vestibular disorders. In addition, rotten vegetables also have the effect of cooling and detoxifying.

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