Showing posts with label Bo Ngot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bo Ngot. Show all posts

Friday, December 5, 2008

Sweet Beef?

Miami is technically sub-tropical but one can find a large variety of flora that traditionally grows in the tropic. This is Schismatoglottis calyptra, of the family Araceae. It is a "wild vegetable" that is quite popular in Viet Nam. You can Google its local name of "Bo Ngot" to find this dish sold as a soup in local popular restaurants there (see insert.) I am not inclined to eat much vegetable, much less plain vegetable soup, but I am told this soup is very good and it is naturally "sweet," thus its name "Bo Ngot," Ngot means sweet. Not sure what "Bo" may mean here. A scientific nutritional study of food lists this "wild vegetable" as rich in micronutrient and is an important component of wild vegetables (Rau dai) in micronutrient intakes of women in Viet-Nam's Mekong Delta and the Central Highlands. And here it is, right here in Miami. These round white pods look like fruits, but they are seed pods, containing small black seeds that are very easy to germinate. I have a handful. I may just dump them in my backyard to see if any will take roots.

Bo Ngot