The vegetable that used to grow wild, no one picked it up, is now a sought-after specialty by gourmets, 100,000 VND/kg

Watercress vegetables (also known as soil ditch vegetables) are wild vegetables that grow wild in wet areas such as the banks of fields, rivers, streams… They are characterized as herbaceous plants that can be up to 1.5 meters tall. m, alternately lanceolate leaves, yellow flowers and usually have 4 opposite petals, club-shaped fruits like jute vegetables.

In Vietnam, vegetables are abundant in provinces from North to South such as Lao Cai, Quang Ninh, Quang Tri, the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta. Ms. Anh Ngoc (29 years old) – a small trader specializing in selling unique specialties throughout the regions in Ho Chi Minh City said: “In the past, the ditches were full of vegetables, but no one wanted to eat them because they thought they were wild vegetables. not good for human health. It was not until 2017 that they began to be hunted by many people. At that time, in Mang Thit district (Vinh Long), there was a patient infected with gastric HP after a period of ineffective western medicine, and was told by relatives to drink vegetables and then recover from the disease.

Also according to Ms. Anh Ngoc, fenugreek has a natural sweetness and aroma of the domestic wind, not as strong as other wild vegetables. When eating, people will feel cool because they have cooling properties for the body. “The young shoots of the rhubarb can be used to cook shrimp soup, meat soup or stir-fry. In addition, people also eat them as raw vegetables with braised fish, fish hotpot or other hot pot dishes…

Mango vegetables have a natural sweetness and aroma of the domestic wind, not as strong as other wild vegetables.

Especially in the flood season, the vegetables and ditches grow up with the water, they just need to go to the field to be able to pick the whole basket and take it home to process into delicious dishes. That’s why they are sold in all markets this season,” Anh Ngoc said.

Although extremely familiar to people in the West or forgotten areas, vegetables are still quite strange to people in big cities. According to Ms. Anh Ngoc, she only really knew about this vegetable 2-3 years ago and was curious about its deliciousness as well as its good health benefits. So do you dare to import tens of pounds to try and sell it?

“Once I was able to go to the West to play, I saw a lot of vegetables and ditches, and people advertised it as good for health and clearing heat. I immediately risked buying tens of pounds to bring back to the store to sell it and determine that no one bought it, so I brought it home to cook the soup gradually.

Unexpectedly, the shop just opened that day, the office ladies in District 1 came in to buy vegetables and saw that they bought 1-2 kg of boots each. I remember at that time I sold only a few dozen/kg,” said Anh Ngoc.

After that time, Anh Ngoc decided to import vegetables and sell them. However, they are only abundant in the floating season, so it is not easy to buy wholesale from people all year round. You have to spend a lot of money to import vegetables. “Sometimes there are imported vegetables, I put them up for sale for 80,000 – 100,000 VND/kg, it will be about 20,000 VND/small batch,” said a small businessman in Saigon.

The young shoots of canal vegetables can cook shrimp soup, meat soup or stir-fry are very delicious.

In addition, on e-commerce sites, there are also dried vegetables for sale at the price of 150,000 VND/kg so that it is convenient for people in remote areas to order and try.

Not only is it a vegetable, people have long considered it a medicine, but its effectiveness is limited to certain effects. According to folklore, it is used to treat boils, itchy sores, diarrhea, and deworming. The medicinal part of the plant is the whole plant, including the leaves and the stem. You can use fresh or dried plants, but if you can get fresh plants, it will be better.

Currently, there are no official studies on the use of fenugreek. However, the experience of treating gastric HP from vegetables is still one of the valuable solutions for many patients today, when the treatment with western medicine is not effective.