Unusual edibles in the Vietnamese Patch

by admin | November 26, 2020 12:04 pm

Cai is a mustard green, good for cleaning out the sinuses.

Ca ta is like a celery that is eaten raw or stir fried and this variety of Vietnamese celery must be grown in a very moist, even flooded area.

Kinh jioi is a leafy green that can be eaten raw, with bean shoots or chopped up and cooked with crabmeat, chilli and vermicelli and eaten like a soup. Propagated from seed, it grows all year round, filling large areas of garden bed and is treated like a Vietnamese Balm as it is so good for giving health.

Tiato is a purple leafed low growing perennial grown for its health giving especially fevers.

Vap ca is called “fish plant”.

Other plants include Vietnamese lettuce (a little more bitter and not as crunchy as an Iceberg lettuce), Spring Onions, Mints that are all different strengths and Aloe Vera.

Other unusual vegetables:

• A Sweet Potato eaten for its root as well as its stems and leaves
• A tall growing “lettuce” on a stem about 90cms that tastes bitter and certainly different than the normal lettuce.
• A white cucumber that is fat and short
• A different type of pumpkin that has edible leaves
• Mynyat Nye which translates to “ant of May” a medicinal plant used for migraine or back pain. Known colloquially as “smelly ant” it is used for headaches and coughs

Sourced from: 

Sub-Tropical Fruit Club of Qld. Inc Newsletter February – March 2007

Source URL: https://stfc.org.au/articles/unusual-edibles-in-the-vietnamese-patch-2/

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