E leaves – the “soul” ingredient of the cuisine of the land of yellow flowers and green grass

Wandering around Phu Yen alone in a series of “gap year” days of rest and self-love, I chose a taxi tour – to relieve sadness and also to be able to chat with a local. Picking me up was a bold driver who had a lot of knowledge about the culture and geography in Nau. As soon as he got into the car, he invited “At noon, let’s go and try salted fried rice, sister. Hanoians come here, everyone is addicted to that dish.” So at noon, we turned into a seaside seafood restaurant, ordered a plate of fried rice with salt.

A special dish of fried rice with salt and é. (Photo collection).

The plate of rice has 50,000 VND but it’s really big, probably for those who eat and drink. The special thing is that the fried rice does not add eggs, nor does it have any sophisticated ingredients such as seafood, meat, with the naked eye, only white rice, a little crushed garlic and pieces of green leaves are pureed – that is é leaves. .

The driver, the non-specialist guide introduced, this fried rice dish is made by chopping the crushed basil leaves with green chili pepper, monosodium glutamate, salt and then hot frying with garlic and rice. Extremely simple ingredients that create a dish full of flavor, rich in salt and spicy taste of chili. The smell of é leaves is very specific, a hybrid between the taste of lemon and lemongrass, adding flavor to the dish, just like every flavor is increased by one level.

The famous é leaf chicken hot pot dish of Nou. (Photo collection)

Curious about é leaves and how Phu Yen people use é leaves in their dishes, I took a walk around Tuy Hoa to talk more about this ingredient in Phu Yen cuisine.

é leaves have the same family as basil, so folk also call basil “red é”, while é leaves are used a lot by Phu Yen people in a dish called “white é”. Body white, hairy. In the past, this spice vegetable was also known as the real tree because it was a special dish used by people to advance to the king.

E leaves are used in many dishes in Phu Yen. (Photo collection).

Chicken hot pot with é leaves of Phu Yen people has become a specialty brought to many places in the country by the people of the land of yellow flowers and green grass. Chicken é leaf hotpot is seasoned with salty and spicy spices, but it is not boring, but it feels cool and refreshing, thanks to the neutralization of é leaves. The chicken is sweet, firm, and seasoned with salt of basil leaves, which is very fragrant and delicious. In addition to hot pot, é leaves are also used to season all kinds of salty dishes of Phu Yen: pork rolls cooked with é leaves, vegetarian soup with white é leaves, steamed silk scallops with é leaves, sour soup with é leaves, etc. mixes the dense “substance” of proteins, helping the dish to be enhanced, eating a lot without feeling sick.

The simple dish of white rice served with salt is very simple. (Photo collection).

In Phu Yen, a cup of é leaf salt seems to be indispensable in the meal. People pound salt with green chili peppers, add basil leaves to dip all kinds of meat, fish, seafood, .. and even eat with rice. It sounds boring, but it’s actually very fitting. Hot, fragrant and fragrant white rice mixed with é salt is very strange, rich in the taste of the rice, making it taste good, just like that, it can make people love it forever…

Đăng bởi: Lặng Lẽ Đi Ngang Qua