Green leaves of spring

Under the spring sunshine, the lush green beds of Chinese yam sway in the wind. The aroma of a bowl of Chinese yam soup wafts up from the kitchen - a rustic, rich aroma that is hard to forget.

Anyone who spent their childhood in the countryside is probably quite familiar with the taste of tần ô. People in my village spend all year working in the fields and gardens, so tần ô becomes familiar.

The Chinese clematis is easy to grow and does not require much care, but according to experience, the best time to plant is usually at the end of December, when the long rains have stopped. Watered in the late winter and early spring sunshine, and with skillful care, in just a few weeks, the Chinese clematis shoots will sprout and sprout new buds.

When I was young, I often cut the Chinese clematis in the early morning, because after a night of rain and humidity, the Chinese clematis absorbed the essence of heaven and earth, becoming plump, shiny and cool. This is also the time when the Chinese clematis is at its best, not wilted like in the late afternoon.

Although dishes made from Chinese yam are rustic in the countryside, they are also medicinal, curing many diseases, cooling the liver, laxative, preventing mouth ulcers... Freshly picked Chinese yam is crispy and fresh, washed and can be eaten raw with vegetables or when cooking fish hotpot, adding a little Chinese yam will help the eater cool down.

The most popular is cooking Chinese spinach soup. There are many types, just a bunch of Chinese spinach shoots from the fence corner, a few sweet potato shoots, and a few fresh shrimps are enough to make a pot of green vegetable soup, clear water, sweet and cool.

On busy days in the harvest season, the water spinach picked from the garden is washed, water is poured into the pot, wait for it to boil, then add the spinach, add a little salt and pepper, remove from heat and the soup is ready.

So simple yet so delicious, all the heavy, tired feelings seem to disappear. When life in the village gradually stabilized, the economy improved, families added lean meat, crab, shrimp, etc. to the soup to increase the nutrients.

The live, bouncing shrimps are cleaned and seasoned. Choose the young stems of the Chinese clematis. Place the pot on the stove, saute onions and garlic with cooking oil, add the shrimp, pour in the boiled water, add the Chinese clematis leaves, and season to taste. Wait until the soup boils again, then turn off the stove. The cook must pay attention, raw or overcooked vegetables will ruin the flavor of the soup. Like other vegetable soups, add a little bit of herbs such as onions, coriander... and don't forget to sprinkle a little pepper to make the soup more appealing.

Those who enjoy this soup for the first time will find it a bit pungent, the feeling of roughness, the natural sweetness (not from seasoning powder) of homegrown vegetables. To be more precise, it is the taste of the soil, the sun, the wind of the homeland permeating into each stalk of vegetable, creating a bowl of light soup. Is that taste enough to make people always remember their homeland?

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/xanh-muot-tan-o-ngay-xuan-3149024.html