Linh Chieu water spinach in Phuc Tho, a vegetable offered to the king, and a special animal offered to the king, what is it?

Until now, the sweet, crispy, and pure white taste of the rustic specialty Linh Chieu water spinach is still passed down by the locals here.

Famous specialties far and wide

When it comes to Linh Chieu water spinach, many elders in the area still affirm that this product, although common, is famously delicious.

By chance, while traveling with my colleagues to find strange features of the Doai region, I found the origin of this most delicious specialty.

Strangely enough, when setting foot in Phuc Tho land, everyone knows about Linh Chieu water spinach, but to fully understand its origin, it was only after wandering around the village for a while, when we arrived at Mr. Kieu Van Son's house (Guardian of Sen Chieu Temple) that we understood the origin.

According to Mr. Son, the water spinach for the King originated from Sen Chieu commune, but more deeply, it originated from Thanh Chieu village. The ancient word is Linh Chieu, translated into the national language is Thanh Chieu. In the past, during the Nguyen Dynasty, Thanh Chieu village had a vegetable called rau duoi. Whenever the king had the opportunity to go from Hue, he often stopped by Son Tay citadel. At that time, this vegetable was sold at Son Tay market. After tasting it, finding it delicious, the King made a rule that Thanh Chieu would be brought to Hue every year to offer to the King.

Mr. Son also said that the reason why the water spinach grown in this land has a delicious taste is because this place has an open-air spring and is fertilized by fertile alluvium from the Red River. The soil factor and vegetable variety are the secret to creating the sweet, crunchy taste of the water spinach for the King.

Boiled vegetables are crispy, sweet and have a rich flavor. The water used to boil the vegetables is clear green, not cloudy green or dark red like other types of water spinach.

According to legend, the ancients had to be very meticulous in growing water spinach for the King. The newly sprouted water spinach shoots were inserted into large, hollow snail shells.

When harvesting, the vegetable is picked from the top part deep inside the snail shell. Because it is deep inside the shell, the vegetable top is white, twisted, and very beautiful... In addition, the vegetable stem is large and round, reaching high above the water surface, making the vegetable clean and not contaminated by water.

Asked about this detail, Mr. Son shared that each water spinach shoot for the King when planted must be 40cm high, each shoot is planted 30 - 40cm apart. Meanwhile, normal water spinach is usually planted 15cm apart. The reason for planting vegetables like this is so that when the vegetables grow well, the shoots can grow tall but still ensure smoothness.

The royal water spinach grown in Linh Chieu village (Phuc Tho district, Hanoi) has large, long shoots, sparse leaves, and is crispy and sweet. Photo: PT

“Because growing vegetables is a laborious process and has low productivity, in the past, vegetables for the King were usually only eaten raw, that is, the vegetables were mixed with banana leaves, palm leaves, perilla, basil, etc.

But that vegetable is also strange, it always needs 20cm of water. Without 20cm of water, it will take root and cling to the soil, so when transplanting, it cannot be planted in shallow fields. People pick the vegetable and only bundle 12 shoots into a bunch" - Mr. Kieu Van Son said.

Preserving precious water spinach varieties

Proud of Sen Chieu's hometown for having a precious vegetable variety, a brand name among the people, but currently the people in the area cannot help but worry because the water spinach for the King has now been crossbred and degraded a lot.

In addition, the cultivation area is also gradually shrinking. Talking about this, Mr. Phung Van Dung (Director of Sen Chieu Agricultural Cooperative) confided that although water spinach for the King is a very delicious agricultural product, farmers have not yet become rich from this specialty.

According to Mr. Dung, building a brand for this agricultural product is still facing many difficulties.

I remember, around 2008, 2009, there was a unit that came here to invest in seeds, capital, techniques, and rent land from people to build a brand. But after a while, for many reasons, this "dream" had to be put on hold.

Unfinished from those years until now, only people spontaneously developed brands to supply the market.

“In the past, the Cooperative also managed vegetable brands. For a long time, it has not provided that service anymore. Currently, only a few households work directly with companies. The biggest difficulty is that the water spinach for the King has not been selected as an OCOP product.

In order to not lose the brand, we recently planned to specialize in growing water spinach on 2 hectares, but after asking for people's opinions, we found that we didn't have the manpower.

"The establishment of a water spinach area for the King is still facing many difficulties" - Mr. Phung Van Dung shared.

Ms. Kieu Thi Hang (a household specializing in growing the largest king's water spinach in the region) said that if you are diligent, growing water spinach still brings higher income than growing rice or other crops. According to Ms. Hang, the king's water spinach variety currently being cultivated has been somewhat crossbred.

Partly due to natural selection, partly due to productivity. However, because of harvesting vegetables for sale for many years, according to Ms. Hang, this vegetable variety does not produce many branches.

Each vegetable root usually has only two branches, so the yield is not high. For example, a piece of land planted with water spinach can only harvest 100 bunches, but when planting another type of water spinach on the same area, the harvest can be doubled, even tripled.

As a vegetable grower, Ms. Hang herself hopes that the brand of Tien Vua water spinach will be promoted to better connect product consumption; functional sectors will focus on investing in science and technology, helping farmers properly implement the production process of safe vegetable areas.

"We really hope that the royal water spinach will not stop at just "good reputation" but will become a commodity with high economic value, helping farmers improve their lives" - Ms. Hang hopes.

Source: https://danviet.vn/rau-muong-linh-chieu-o-phuc-tho-rau-tien-vua-con-mot-con-dong-vat-dac-san-tien-vua-la-con-gi-20240831130026674.htm