Food & Receipts

Ancient vegetable discarded for pigs to eat when hungry now becomes a sought-after delicacy by many women, cooking this dish is extremely delicious.

In the days of poverty, when vegetables were scarce and expensive, only then did we turn to sweet potatoes. But now they are being sold on the streets and are in high demand.

Administrator

24 December, 2023

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Ngó khoai, also known as dải khoai or bồng khoai, is a part that grows from the stems of plants such as sweet potatoes, taro, and mùng bean. During the rainy season, they crawl on the ground, reaching up to a meter in length. People usually use dọc khoai and dọc mùng to make a dish called “bún dọc mùng,” while the softer ngó khoai is commonly used for making soup.

In the past, the main type of plant used for this dish was the itchy potato, which caused irritation if touched. Therefore, preparing this dish took a long time as the skin had to be removed and the itchiness had to be reduced. Otherwise, people would feel itchy when eating the dish. This is why this type of vegetable was primarily fed to pigs or eaten only occasionally by a few households. However, nowadays there is a variety of sweet ngó khoai available, which means both dọc and ngó do not cause itching. However, the ngó of the sweet potato plant tastes milder than the one with the itching property.

Recently, many people in the city have been selling peeled and vacuum-sealed ngó khoai for nearly a hundred thousand dong per kilogram.

Benefits of ngó khoai

Although there is not much medical literature about this type of ngó khoai, according to folk experience, dọc khoai and ngó khoai have cooling properties and are great for relieving heat. Therefore, in rural areas, ngó khoai and dọc khoai are eaten during the summer and used to make cooling soups. However, since they have cooling properties, people with diarrhea should consume them in moderation.

How to cook ngó khoai soup

Prepare the ingredients:

– 5 lạng of ngó khoai

– Rau dền cơm (a type of leafy greens)

– A small amount of dried shrimp (dried shrimp helps enhance the sweetness of the soup), or cook with clams or mussels

– 3 tomatoes

– Mẻ (if your family doesn’t eat mẻ, you can use vinegar as a substitute, but for people in many regions along the Red River Delta, mẻ is an essential sour ingredient that contributes to the unique flavor of the dish)

– Minced garlic

– Seasonings

– Vietnamese balm and coriander

Instructions:

– Peel and wash the ngó khoai. Cut them into 5cm pieces. If you buy pre-peeled ngó khoai, you don’t need to peel them again. A tip for peeling ngó khoai without getting itchy is to use your fingernails instead of a knife, as using a knife can cause more itchiness.

– Soak the dried shrimp in water and then rinse them thoroughly.

– Cut the tomatoes into wedges.

– Rinse the rau dền cơm, Vietnamese balm, and coriander, and finely chop them.

– Strain the mẻ to obtain the liquid.

Sauté the ngó khoai: To prevent itchiness, squeeze the peeled ngó khoai with salt and then rinse them thoroughly. Squeeze them 2-3 times to reduce the itchiness. Then blanch them in boiling water. If you want a softer texture, stir-fry them on the stove without adding water. This technique also helps reduce itchiness.

After stir-frying the ngó khoai, season with water, dried shrimp, and seasonings. Arrange the tomatoes on top. Add the mẻ and bring it to a boil until the ngó khoai becomes soft. Then add the rau dền cơm, herbs, and the dish is complete.

Some families may add bones to make the soup sweeter or cook it with boiled clams or mussels, which adds a delightful flavor.