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“You
are what you eat” This
sentence has been used in many occasions for many years and it is
true. Whenever I hear this sentence, I always think of health. But
I recently get one point hidden in it. Not only health, also money
in your pocket. It doesn't mean that vegetables sold in supermarket
are better than one sold in fresh market or one found in field,
river or grove. Why pay more for equal quality? To get good health
and increase your savings, today we would like to present you the
indigenous vegetables in Thailand. After your reading, just look
around you. Maybe 1 question with 1 exclamation. “Why I have never
known these are edible?. Wow! Its taste is
excellent!”
"Idigenous
vegetables"
means whatever plant naturally found in
local area and used for cooking . In addition, it's rich of nutrient
and can be used as family herb.
"Paco"
is an edible fern which is a flowerless plant
founded in sandy soil area near watercourse in every regions of
Thailand. The distinctive character of this plant is that it is
very sensitive to all kinds of chemical and the change of environment.
Therefore we wil automatically know that where the soil and surroundings
are still good by observing this edible plant.
This edible fern is the real indigenous vegetable
of Thai Cuisine. Various local edible fern menus inherited from
generation to generation can explain the above sentence very well.
To preserve freshness, soak fern in water for a while before wrapping
with damp cloth. The other way is dipping it into water and then
wrapping with newspaper, keep it in fridge. By these ways, edible
fern is fresh for 2-3 days.
If you go to the market and have 2 bunches of
this fern. The menu below is recommended. It is easy to cook and
the taste is excellent!
Menu:
Fern salad
Ingredients:
-
2 bunches of edible fern young leaves
- 7-10 birds eye chillies – minced
- 5-7 shallots – chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic – thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 2 tablespoons of shrimp paste
- 1-2 tablespoons of palm sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons of fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons of dried shrimp
- 1-2 tablespoons of lime juice
- 1 cup of coconut flesh – thinly sliced and roasted
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Method:
1.
Cut off the bottom of edible fern, clean the rest and dry it. Then
scald it in salted boiled water for 1-2 minutes and soak it into
cool water for a while before slice it.
2.Clean dried shrimp and dip it into water until
soft. Pound until becomes powder. Add garlic, chillies, palm sugar
and shrimp paste and pound again to combine all ingredients together.
3.Put
scalded fern in a bowl. Then add the pounded dried shrimp and genlty
stir to mix together. Add fish sauce, lime juice as you want. Sprinkle
roasted coconut flesh, shallots and chilies on top. The next step
is to serve.
About
nutritional value, edible fern is a great source of iron and beta-carotine.
The body will absorb these nutrients better if we eat it with
meat. The healthy benefits we will get are:
- We will be
always fresh.
- It is good
for eyes.
- We will get
the strong immunity
Edible
fern is easy to find in local market but in Bangkok, this vegetable
is available at Thevet and Chatujak.
To keep this excellent food with us as long as possible, take
care of the environment. Don't forget that plant needs like we
need.
G.Girl
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"Idigenous vegetables" means whatever plant naturally found in local area and used for cooking . In addition, it's rich of nutrient and can be used as family herb.
