Credits to Theo Eva for the photo
"In Vietnam, ipomoea aquatica (known as rau muống) once served as a staple vegetable of the poor. In the south, the stems are julienned into thin strips and eaten with many kinds of noodles. It is used as a garnish as well. Ipomoea aquatica has become a common ingredient of Vietnamese cuisine." - Wiki
By far this is my favorite vegetable. I grew up eating this and I have honed the skill to prepare it just like how my mother. The thing that I love about rau muong is that it can be prepared and served in many different ways. You can stir fry it with meat, tofu or just by itself with some garlic or it can be used to make a variety of different soups and salads.
Tonight I took my mom over to one of her best friend's house to visit while waiting to pick another one of her best friends at LAX. Of course, my mom is still on the vegetarian diet for several more days. So her friend whipped up some vegetarian dishes. One of those were stir fry rau muong with garlic and tofu. I didn't bring my camera with me so I couldn't get you all a picture. I have been craving for rau muong ever since I started this challenge and finally today I was able to have it. With my normal diet, I would dip rau muong in fish sauce but instead she had out chili bean curds with soy sauce, mash them all together to dip in. It couldn't get any more traditional than that.
-Timothy Pham
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