Rau may, also known as rau bo may, rau may dang, is a wild herb that grows abundantly in the midland and mountainous provinces of the North. This vegetable tastes bitter when first eaten, then gradually becomes sweet in the throat. In the past, this plant grew abundantly in the wild hills and fields, but is now becoming rarer.
CLIP: Adults and children in Thai Nguyen compete to hunt for wild vegetables - bitter bugs to eat. Clip: Ha Thanh
People in the northern mountainous provinces mainly pick this vegetable top to process into dishes such as stir-fried garlic, or steamed like sticky rice...
In some places, young leaves are also used to cook soup and for postpartum women to help them eat well and recover quickly. The vegetable has a rather bitter taste, but will have a sweet aftertaste, slightly nutty.
Wild vegetables - water spinach - often grow in hilly areas of the northern mountainous provinces, including Thai Nguyen. Photo: Ha Thanh
Follow Mr. Kieu Van Nam, Xuan Lai hamlet, Tan Kim commune, Phu Binh district, Thai Nguyen province on an early spring afternoon of the new year to find the vegetable vegetable to make a vegetable dish for his family's dinner.
Mr. Nam said: In the past, the local people used the water spinach plant as a substitute for vegetables because at that time there were not many types of vegetables like there are now.
Because the vegetable has a bitter taste, not everyone can eat it. But once you eat it, you will gradually feel a sweet aftertaste, like drinking tea or eating spinach.
Children in Thai Nguyen are also excited to follow adults to pick wild vegetables to eat. Photo: Ha Thanh
"Since we were little, we have eaten this vegetable, and gradually when we grew up, because there were so many alternative vegetables, people often forgot about it. Now, when we have free time or every time we eat a lot of fatty meat and sticky rice cakes during Tet, we look for this vegetable to eat to avoid boredom.
It took Nam almost an afternoon to pick a full basket of vegetables. Photo: Ha Thanh
In the past, this type of tree grew mainly on hillsides and beaches, so it was easy to find. But gradually, as people leveled the beaches to plant trees, this type of tree has become rarer.
"If before, you could pick a full basket of vegetables just by walking around the beach for a while, now it takes a whole day to pick that much," Nam shared.
Mr. Kieu Van Phuong, also in Xuan Lai hamlet, added: "Everyone in my family likes to eat this vegetable. Although it tastes bitter, the more you eat it, the sweeter it becomes.
My children have loved to eat since they were little. So sometimes I go around the beach to find young shoots to pick and eat.
Mr. Kieu Van Phuong, Xuan Lai hamlet, Tan Kim commune, Phu Binh district said that if you want to eat vegetables that are not bitter, you should choose the time to pick them before there is any thunder. Photo: Ha Thanh
One thing to note according to folk experience that Mr. Phuong shared is that if you want to eat vegetables that are not bitter, you should choose the time to pick them before there is thunder. But when there is thunder, the vegetables are very bitter and difficult to eat.
This vegetable has now become a specialty dish because many people here seek and hunt for it, especially after the Tet holiday. This is the time of spring rains, so the vegetable plants grow many young leaves and are not too bitter to eat.
Occasionally during the search process, you will come across large, young branches of vegetables. Photo: Ha Thanh
Not only adults look for this vegetable, but children here are also very excited to take turns to find and pick it. Because the vegetable has a bitter taste, it is used to prevent boredom after eating a lot of fatty meat and banh chung. Some people also use the vegetable to dip in hot pot instead of other vegetables, which is also very delicious and refreshing.
Adults and children pick vegetables together. Photo: Ha Thanh
According to folklore, the vegetable is not only used as a dish in daily meals but also used as an effective herbal medicine to treat diseases such as scabies , reduce acne by using the whole fresh plant to boil water for daily bathing. It is also effective in cooling, detoxifying, stopping bleeding, often used to treat colds, flu, acute hepatitis. due to infection, bacterial dysentery, pneumonia, mumps, nosebleeds, boils...
The vegetable is processed into attractive dishes such as stir-fried with garlic and soup. Photo: Ha Thanh
According to folklore, wild vegetables such as rau bo may are used as an effective herbal medicine to treat diseases such as: scabies, acne reduction... Photo: Ha Thanh
Therefore, this plant is used by local people as a valuable medicine whenever someone suffers from the above mentioned diseases.
Nowadays, the water spinach plant is not as abundant as before, so some local people want to bring it back to grow to preserve and maintain this plant with many wonderful uses and considered a specialty dish.
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