Soothe summer nostalgia

I don’t know when xu xoa first appeared, but it has been a familiar, cooling dish since the summers of my childhood. Back then, not many houses in my village had fans, so on summer afternoons like this, there was nothing better than eating a glass of xu xoa. The cool, elegant taste of the sea in each spoonful of xu xoa has followed me until now.

"Xu xoa" has many names, sometimes "xoa xoa", sometimes "xu xa", and no matter what it is called, it is a snack that many coastal families know how to cook. The main ingredient to cook xu xoa is a type of seaweed that often grows on rocky reefs around Cu Lao Cham Island (an island commune of Hoi An). The best quality seaweed to cook xu xoa is the type of seaweed that is old, has long, strong stems, little black seaweed, little sand. Nutritionally, seaweed is cool, heat-clearing, detoxifying, laxative...

Raw seaweed, cooked into xu xoa

Xu xoa made from seaweed is a great choice to help cool down after being in the sun or sweating a lot, besides it also has the effect of eliminating dampness and wind. But each time you cook xu xoa, you have to choose a really free day, because xu xoa cooked from seaweed is not like packaged premixed agar powder. To clean xu xoa before cooking it takes a whole day, very elaborate.

After harvesting, the seaweed is rinsed with seawater to remove dust, and at the same time, remove rocks, sand, and coral stuck in the seaweed. Then, bring it home and rinse it with fresh water, and start picking up more sand. Continue cleaning with water like this many times, until the seaweed is white, then dry it in the sun and beat it into cakes for later use. The seaweed harvest season only starts from the first days of summer until the end of the eighth lunar month. Therefore, xu xoa sellers often have to store seaweed during the season to cook all year round.

Before cooking xu xoa, the seaweed continues to absorb more water.

4 hours, wash and collect cleanly one last time before putting into the pot to cook with the right amount of water. The seaweed starts to boil, add lemon juice, after about 40 minutes the seaweed will dissolve, continue the process of filtering the xu xoa water. The seaweed is put into a cloth bag, then a clean bamboo stick is used to press tightly to let the xu xoa water flow out. After a few hours, the xu xoa water will solidify and have a dark green color. The solidified xu xoa can be cut into blocks and put in a basin to eat gradually. Only when ready to use, cut into small, bite-sized pieces.

The deliciousness of xu xoa depends on the sugar syrup. My mother chose the right kind of sugar cane molasses, and the syrup had the right consistency, sweet but not burnt. When cooking, she added a few drops of lemon and a few slices of ginger, which further enhanced the flavor for the person enjoying it. Every time I saw my mother’s skillful hands spreading the sugar syrup in zigzag patterns on the small pieces of xu xoa lying neatly in the cup, I wanted to sip it right away.

This afternoon, the south wind accidentally brought the summer heat, suddenly my heart fluttered when my mother bent over in the kitchen and started to cook the familiar xu xoa dish. Enjoying a cool glass of xu xoa with the taste of the sea, each piece melted in my mouth, mixed with the sweet aroma of the sugar water my mother cooked, suddenly the heat of the mid-summer day disappeared...

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