When mentioning Kon Tum specialties, people often immediately think of familiar names such as bamboo shoot sticky rice, red vermicelli, bamboo rice, dishes made from wild game meat such as wild boar, one-sun-dried beef, deer meat, porcupine... or Serepok river fish, grilled stream fish,...
However, in this land there is also an equally attractive dish, loved by many diners and almost only enjoyed when traveling here. That is leaf salad.
As the name suggests, this dish consists of main ingredients mainly leaves with about 30 different types, divided into 3 main groups. First, simple leaves that are easy to find and grow in the home garden such as mustard greens, perilla, mint, ginseng, Vietnamese balm, fig leaves, perilla leaves, green onions, pennywort, fish mint, basil...
Second, familiar but still quite strange leaves on Vietnamese meals such as guava leaves, mango leaves, star gooseberry, ivy... Finally, there are wild leaves of the Central Highlands, which are usually only known to locals such as myrtle leaves, red vine, bear bile, garcinia leaves, lovage, passion flower, wild tamarind, xam xuong, choi moi,...
Ms. Huong - owner of a restaurant on Tran Cao Van Street, Kon Tum City said that leaf salad can be eaten all year round, but the amount of leaves used to make this salad varies by season, depending on the weather and climate.
“During the rainy season, when the trees in the forest are lush, the leaf salad is also the most diverse, sometimes with up to 50-60 types of leaves. But in the dry season, the number of leaves used to make the salad is only about 30 types, but still ensures the characteristic, delicious flavor of the dish,” she said.
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The leaf salad is served on a large tray, with countless types of leaves decorated around it. Notably, this dish does not use rice paper but uses the leaves themselves to wrap everything (Photo: Viet Dong Duong, Khanh Nguyen Tran)
To harvest these leaves, local people often have to go into the forest to pick them early in the morning. That way, the leaves will be young and delicious, ensuring the perfect flavor for this refreshing, anti-nausea dish.
However, only those who are healthy and experienced can go through the forest, into the bushes that are full of insects and snakes to pick leaves. Not to mention, they have to distinguish different types of leaves, know which leaves are edible to avoid picking poisonous plants, which are dangerous for people to eat.
In addition to the main ingredients of leaves, this salad is also served with pork belly, dried shrimp and pork skin. Pork belly must be selected with both lean and fat, boiled and then thinly sliced. The shrimp are beheaded, cleaned and then fried until golden brown. The pork skin is also boiled, cut into long thin strips like nem chao, then mixed with rice powder and some accompanying spices.
Besides, one of the most attractive elements of this salad is the dipping sauce. Instead of using sweet and sour fish sauce or soy sauce like other traditional salads, the authentic leaf salad must be dipped in a mixture made from fermented sticky rice, incubated with dried shrimp, and pork belly. Then, people put that mixture on a hot pan with fried shallots, add yeast, satay, spices and cook on a low heat, stirring constantly.
According to locals, because the leaf salad requires a meticulous preparation and processing process, it requires delicacy when enjoying it to fully appreciate its unique flavor. Diners cannot eat it in a hurry but must follow the order to be able to roll a delicious salad.
When eating, diners roll slowly, one leaf at a time. First, people use a large leaf such as a perilla leaf, a fig leaf, etc., to roll it into a funnel shape, then add 5-7 types of leaves of their choice, place a slice of boiled meat, pork skin, shrimp on top, then pour the dipping sauce on top, add a little green chili or green pepper, then put it in the mouth to enjoy.
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A salad is considered to be well-rounded when it ensures the full flavor of meat, shrimp, the spicy taste of pepper, chili, the salty taste of salt, the sour and fatty taste of the dipping sauce... All blend together, creating a delicious, refreshing flavor, helping diners cool down and relieve boredom (Photo: Do Trang, @reviewkontum)
If you have the opportunity to travel to Kon Tum, visitors can easily find and enjoy leaf salad at many restaurants and eateries in the city, especially on Tran Cao Van street.
Each serving of leaf salad is full, for about 3-4 people to enjoy, with prices ranging from 100,000 - 150,000 VND.
Phan Dau
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