Although the vegetables grow wild in the riverbank, the field and only in the flood season, but the cotton dandelion, penguin, tub or melancholy, … have become the ingredients to make a series of delicious Western dishes.

In the flood season of the West, from about August to November, people here have a “bumpy” of vegetables growing all over the fields, pond banks, riverside, … such as tubs, wild cotton. , repent, melancholy or water lily, bud, water chives. 

Although they are wild vegetables, they still grow luxuriantly without needing to be cared for, but they have become a popular source of rustic ingredients that are loved by everyone, guaranteed to be clean, safe for health, and processed into many delicious dishes.

Cork Cotton

This vegetable is available all year round but appears most at the end of the year in the West. In the flood season, the wildflower blooms, covered with bright yellow color throughout an area. They often grow on the banks of ponds, in the fields with a very attractive appearance (Photo: @pax_huynh).

It has a mild, crunchy, sweet taste and becomes a famous accompaniment of vermicelli and hot pot dishes of Westerners. In addition, this vegetable is also processed into stir-fried dishes with copper shrimp or as a filling for pancakes, creating a delicious and irresistible flavor (Photo: @baileynguyensg).

Where’s sad?

Where is the sadness, also known as the winter melancholy, where the melancholy is? This vegetable is available in many places, but usually, only in the West do people pick them to cook (Photo: @ngocdung0107).

The time when the durian tree changes its leaves and produces flowers, from October to March of the next lunar year is also the time when people go to the fields and river banks to harvest the young leaves and dip them into braised fish sauce and cook braised fish. Durian is also processed into a very special salad, served with hot rice quite delicious (Photo: @ji_woo96).

Promise

Water chives are likened by Westerners to a specialty “given from heaven”. They grow in alum fields, their roots are deeply rooted in the mud and not everywhere. Water chives grow a lot from November to December every year. At this time, people rush to the fields to harvest chives (Photo: Ann Vo).

This vegetable has a thin, flat size, is often lightly bare and then processed into stir-fried dishes, cooked in soup or eaten raw, dipped in braised fish or braised fish sauce. Water chives have a crispy taste and are cool to eat (Photo: @trangpinskyy).

Water lily

This vegetable is very familiar to Westerners and is considered a rustic specialty of the river here. Water lily is purple, crispy, spongy and best eaten in the floating season (Photo: @thanh23184).

They are raw materials for stir-fried dishes or cooking fish and shrimp soup, making braised fish sauce. Wash the water lily, strip off the outer skin, cut off the flowers, keep only the stalks. This vegetable is an indispensable ingredient in the famous delicious Linh fish hot pot of the West (Photo: @thao_predo).

Repent (repent)

Although it is a weed, it is now a “money-making” vegetable of many households in the West and is only available in the flood season. After plucking, they are washed, cut short about 30cm and then peeled, taking the crispy white part inside. This vegetable can be eaten raw, cooked with crab soup, or dipped with braised fish sauce, hot sauce, dipped in hot pot (Photo: Nguyet Nhi).

Tub 

Tubs (also known as candle grass) often grow wild in the riverside. In the past few years, people in some western provinces such as Hau Giang, Soc Trang, Ca Mau and Bac Lieu has begun to plant tubs for sale.

After harvesting, this vegetable will be cut off the leaves, leaving a stem and then using a small knife to split along a third of the stem to separate the young core. This is the edible part of the plant, with a sweet, cool taste. Tubs can be eaten raw, cooked with sour soup, pickled or dipped in braised fish, fried with meat, shrimp,… all delicious (Photo: @bakafood).

Best of luck

This is the ingredient that makes many delicious rustic dishes in the West that not only locals, but even faraway diners also love. The bud is a vine, and wherever the stem goes, it sticks to its roots to absorb water. They often grow in low-lying muddy soils and are well adapted to mildly alkaline soils.

In the rainy season, the tree grows very quickly. The stem is processed into dishes such as salad, stir-fried with garlic, dipped in a hot pot,… This vegetable is a bit viscous like spinach, with a slightly bitter taste, many people who eat it for the first time are not familiar but enjoy it a lot. Photo: Dao Lam Xuan Quynh).