Nước rau má | Yo Mama's pennywort juice (Gotu Kola)

Word to Yo Mutha

Uống nước nhớ nguồn

Drink water, remember the source

Ơn Nghĩa Sinh Thãnh by my favorite Viet singer Hoàng Lan

In honor of Mother's Day, I'm posting a recipe for a beverage that your mother approved.

Rau má | "mother's herb"*--alias Centella asiatica, pennywort, gotu kola/mandukaparni (Ayurvedic), 崩大碗 ("chipped big bowl" TCM) not Lei Gong Teng/雷公藤 (important correction below)**  is a powerful herbal cure-all that has been called the "elixir of life."  (The many other names of pennywort throughout Asia.)

Apart from wound healing, the herb is recommended for the treatment of various skin conditions such as leprosy, lupus, varicose ulcers, eczema, psoriasis, diarrhoea, fever, amenorrhea, diseases of the female genitourinary tract and also for relieving anxiety and improving cognition. [Source]

"yo mama's so wise that Yoda calls her for advice"

Centella asiatica (rau má , pennywort, lei gong teng, gotu kola)

Influenced by Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, in Viet folk medicine--which is based on humoral theory--the body is governed by gió mát (âm)|cooling winds (yin) and gió nóng (duơng)|hot winds (yang) humors.  In this folk medicine belief and practices, food is medicinal and is governed by these properties.  If your body is suffering from too much yang-heat, you consume yin-cooling foods and drinks to balance yourself to homeostasis.

Nước rau má is a popular juice made from a wetland medicinal herb native to Asia and is widely used in Ayurvedic, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and South African/Madagascar healing modalities.  It is considered a cooling drink in thuốc Nam | Viet folk medicine (versus thuốc Bắc or Chinese medicine).  

Rich with chlorophyll, vitamins, and minerals, rau má is mild adaptogen, is mildly antibacterial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcerogenic, anxiolytic, a cerebral tonic, a circulatory stimulant, a diuretic, nervine and vulnerary.  It's being researched as a potent anti-cancer medicine.

Active ingredients are asiaticoside (a triterpene glycoside) (triterpenoid), brahmoside and brahminoside (both saponin glycosides), madecassoside (a glycoside with strong anti-inflammatory properties), madecassic acid, thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, vitamin K, asparate, glutamate, serine, threonine, alanine, lysine, histidine, magnesium, calcium and sodium. ... high concentration of thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2) and pyridoxine (vitamin B6).  (Source)

Though I've drank it throughout my life, I first
 encountered its folk medicinal purpose when I was doing ethnographic fieldwork in Vietnam in 2000.  Between my daily cà-phê sữa đá, chronic dehydration, and the tropical heat, inevitably I started to experience a mild urinary tract infection considered nóng | hot-yang in the the Viet folk system. Though I had brought all purpose international travel antibiotics (this is back when antibiotics were given out like candy), I was reluctant to use them.  My aunty (a real aunty, not the fictive kin that white anthropologists love to claim adopted them, not understanding that in kin-relational languages lacking a 2nd person pronoun like "YOU", if one is not kin, one doesn't exist; and since one can't not exist, one is assigned a kinship pronoun, not adopted.  If one was really adopted, one would have family obligations like getting random phone calls every few weeks to fix this that and the other and to cook/buy/make/deliver this that and the other for such and such relation even when one lives 500 miles away.  Not that I mind because I adore my phamily.  Ahem)--So my aunty ran out to the market and returned with a bunch of rau má.  With one glass, the infection was gone.

"

Shaken, not shtirred.

The other week, as I was suffering from some "hot wind" (...) and the heat wave, my MIL picked up some rau má at Vietnamese market for me.  The leaf is astringent tasting and the juice is not pleasant in and of itself. Typically this is served with a grip of sugar to counter the astringency.  Since I am low to no sugar, my MIL suggested coconut water as complementary cooling liquid.

Lacking fancier juice extraction equipment I used my handy dandy Cuisinart immersion blender (bought on clearance from Sur le table) to pulverise it with some water and then used a nut bag to strain it.  This left a little fine debris so next time I would use a cheesecloth instead.  I tried some as a straight shot.  Regretted it.  Gave some to my husband as a straight shot because I like to share the joy.  Haha.  Wish I took a photo of his face the moment it hit his tongue.  Tried some with Stannard Farms organic grade B maple syrup.  Then I remembered I had some with some Trader Joe's coconut water which was a vast improvement.  (I also have some fresh coconuts that I froze in the deep freeze--note: do not freeze coconuts ever again--but didn't have the patience to partially defrost them and macguyver a filtering system so that the semi cracked coconut didn't melt everywhere.) Then for the remainder, I just poured it into my daily, organic herbal infusion of red raspberry leaves, stinging nettle and red clover with a teaspoon of himalayan sea salt.  It's really quite uh, special.  The things one gets used to...  After lingering for a week and a half despite cranberry juice, bearberry/cranberry/mannose extract supplements up the wazoo (I haven't done antibiotics in over 14 yrs), my "hot wind" cleared up with 2 days of drinking rau má.

I recommend using coconut water to blend the rau má, fresh if you can source the young coconuts or use your preferred brand of the bottled/boxed kind.  The more coconut water you add, the more you dilute the astringency.

We've become so accustomed in our (post-) modern, consumer-driven society to consuming our nutrients in pill form as concentrated, isolated elements.  This is not how our biological systems optimally function.  It is best to get our nutrients from whole foods.  Prepared correctly within its cultural context/foodways, medicinal herbs are an excellent way to obtain these nutrients.  

Before you run off and start adding this to your chia-goji-quinoa-dragon fruit-blue green algae-superfood smoothie, keep in mind: Like any medicinal plant, pennywort is best to drink in moderation and not on a ongoing, daily basis. There is conflicting info about using this herb during pregnancy and breastfeeding mostly because no one has officially studied its use in mothers (this is true of most herbal remedies even when folk medicinal practices do condone it during the childbearing year).  Use your own common sense.

Straight up now tell me do you want to love me forever?  Woah oh oh! Or are you just having fun?

Word to the Mutha!

Aaaaaaand... I couldn't resist Mr. T's rap about yo mama.

*I'm not clear on the etymological/ethnobotanical origins of Rau má which translates as "mother's herb".  Some Western herbalists purport that it aids in breastfeeding.  I haven't heard of any mother-specific uses in Viet folk medicine, but then I've never investigated it.

** I've been informed by a careful reader that Lei Gong Gen | Thunder God Vine is actually a different TCM plant Tripterygium wilfordii that is mistakenly attributed as Pennywort and is toxic if not consumed properly.  Thanks, Hai for catching that!

Vegan Lilikoi Butter (GF/DF/SF)

Our phamily matriarch Aunty Len goes back to Hilo every year or so to visit her in-laws.  She always comes back with the best treats--homemade pickled baby mangoes, chocolate macadamia nuts (macadamias are my favorite thing ever!), and lilikoi (passionfruit) for making butter.  My daughter VL loveloveloves aunty Len's lilikoi butter.  And then one day, I googled the recipe and realized it has dairy (1/2 lb of butter!) and refined sugar!  Sometimes ignorance is bliss.  Sigh.

So I am finally getting around to making a dairy-free, refined sugar-free lilikoi butter.  I used this vegan lilikoi butter recipe but have substituted healthier, real food choices like unrefined sweetener and coconut cream concentrate.  (I have a reaction to agave in all its forms likely do to chemical contamination in the production which means alas, tequila is no longer my friend.  And agave syrup is not without its criticisms besides.)

I just bought the Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Cream Concentrate and I'm excited to give it a try.  Previously Artisana Organic Coconut Butter has been a staple in our house.  You can google all the benefits of coconut, but from my experience, having a spoonful (or more) of coconut butter a day helped to restore my brain function, stabilize my blood sugar, and boosted my immune system.  I've just given the TT CCC a taste and it's more viscous, smoother and lighter than the Artisana.  I'm presuming the difference is the production; TT is produced in the Philippines from perhaps fresh or fresher, whole coconut.  Artisana is produced in Oakland I presume from dried whole coconut as it is a little denser (not a bad thing per se).  Both are delicious!

We don't eat very much GF bread, but I will have to crank out some paleo bread for the occasion.  

Previously I've made DF/SF apple juice caramel (essentially apple butter with a sexier name) and I forgot how long it takes to reduce.  I'm inclined against the lemon called for in the original recipe.  Usually it is added to fruit preserves to retain the color against oxidation.  Passionfruit is already so tart though that it pushes it even tarter which requires more sweetener to balance and still the tart lingers on your palate afterwards.  I've taken it out of the recipe but in case you are concerned about the aesthetics, add 1-2 squeezes of lemon.

Generally, sugar is added to the reduction process to carmelize and ergo thicken the preserves.  If you are using raw honey, put it after the reduction to retain all the nutrients and keep it from being cooked.  Apricot syrup can be added to the reduction as can palm sugar.  We are fairly low sweet so you should taste and add more/less sweetener to your taste.

I'm very pleased with the way this came out, especially the texture of the TT CCC which is very creamy & silky.  It's almost custard-like in consistency.  In the future, I'm thinking this calls for a classic Hawaiian POG variation--passion fruit, orange and guava.

This recipe has also been posted on Tropical Traditions website.

Vegan Lilikoi Butter (GF/DF/SF)

makes 1.5 cups

Ingredients:

• 18 oz lilikoi pulp*
• 1 cup Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate (or substitute coconut butter)
• 6+ tbsp raw honey, apricot syrup, or coconut/palm sugar*

Simmer the lilikoi and apricot syrup or coconut/palm sugar in a small saucepan at the lowest heat setting until it is reduced by one-third to one-half (about 60 minutes depending on how hot your burner is).  Turn off the burner.  (A low boil would speed things up but I prefer a slow cook method.  You could also use a slow cooker to achieve the same purpose, but mine is clay and absorbs flavors so its savory smelling).

Stir in the CoCo Cream until dissolved.  If the CCC is solidified, dip a metal 1/4 cup measure into hot water and then scoop.  If using raw honey, add and mix.

Pour into sterilized half-pint jars.  Refrigerate one jar to eat right away.  Can the rest for later using the water bath method or freeze it.

Best served at room temperature as the coconut cream will solidify in the fridge.

* I found this in the freezer section of Mi Pueblo; more likely to be found in Latino-Carribean markets or Japanese-Hawaiian markets.  Give the package a quick rinse before opening to remove any residue, dirt, etc.

Ăn Ngon Lành|Eat Delectably!

Basic chicken broth & Miến Gà | Glass noodle chicken soup

Sometimes we eat 12 organic chicken leg quarters a week.  To make this go the mile, I roast the legs (sesame chicken) and shred the chicken while its still warm and pliable.  I reserve the bones, cartilage, & parts of the skin for chicken broth in the freezer.  My sister Uyên recommends roasting the bones to deepen the flavor.  This is another 30 minutes of prep/cook time so I've yet to try it out. 

My daughter requested "Minnie-strone" so I got the chicken bones out of the freezer and I soak/boiled some kidney beans, but then looking at our vegetables--bok choy & organic bunashimeji from a recent run to Ranch 99 (this is the VietAm grammatical noun-adjective transposition), organic kale & broccoli greens from our garden, and the roast sesame chicken leg quarters in the fridge... and well I started feeling more Asian than Italian and I started craving Miến Gà.  Only, anytime I eat Mien I get very agitated and have an accelerated blood sugar/hunger pattern--maybe from processing or maybe it's the tapioca (thought: cornstarch is frequently a cheap substitute for tapioca so that might be the trigger)--still haven't figured it out.  So I used what we had in the pantry--dangmyeon (Miến khoai lang).

Anyways, I used what we had in the pantry, garden, and fridge.  Improv whatever mild green vegetables & ingredients you've got on hand.

Basic Chicken broth

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of organic chicken bones
• 2.5 qts of filtered water
• 1 organic shallot
• 3 organic garlic cloves
• 1 tsp of organic ginger powder
• 2-3 handfuls of grey sea salt
• generous splash of Red Boat fish sauce
• 1 splash of raw, organic apple cider vinegar*
• optional carrot (sweetens broth)

Throw all the ingredients into your 5 QT dutch oven or stock pot.  Put the lid on and let it low boil for 30 minutes.  Alternately, throw it in the pressure cooker for 15 mins plus decompression time.  Remove the chicken bones.  (You can optionally freeze and reuse the bones but I generally only use them once.)  

*The ACV helps to acidulate the bones so they release their minerals.

Miến Gà recipe

• chicken broth (no carrot)
• veggies: bok choy, broccoli greens, kale, etc.
• 1/2 c organic dried shitake mushrooms
• 7 oz (2 packages) organic bunashimeji (beech mushrooms)
• optional nấm mèo | wood ear fungus
• 2 bunches of dangmyeon (Korean sweet potato noodles)
• roasted sesame oil
• Red Boat fish sauce
• shredded roast chicken
• cilantro
• chile paste for condiment (Youzi XO sauce, etc)

If you are making the broth from scratch, start making it first.  Then start a pot of water boiling to make the noodles.

If you are using dried mushrooms, reconstitute them in separate bowls with hot water.

Meanwhile, thoroughly wash & chop your greens.  The traditional way of washing greens uses less water than letting the faucet run.  Fill a tub, bucket or large bowl with water and submerge the mustard greens to wash them.  Plunge the greens up and down to get the water sloshing; the dirt and sediment sink to the bottom.  Rub your thumbs across the inner stalks to remove any dirt.  Remove the greens and compost the water lightly rinsing any residue off the tub.  Repeat at least once more until clean.

Once the water is boiling, cook noodles for 8-10 minutes until softened.  Drain in a colander (you can compost the water) and rinse with cool water to remove extra starch.  Pour 2-3 tbs of sesame oil over the noodles and toss thoroughly.  You can also use your hands to massage it in. This keeps them from clumping/sticking.

Drain the mushrooms and squeeze out excess water.  Slice shitake if necessary.

Remove any bones from the broth at this time.   Add veggies, mushrooms, 1/4 cup sesame oil, a handful of salt, and a generous splash of Red Boat Fish sauce.  Cover and cook for ~10 minutes until veggies are just cooked.  

In each soup bowl, add glass noodles, shredded chicken, and top off with veggies & broth.  Garnish with cilantro and serve with chile paste.

Ăn Ngon Lành|Eat Delectably!

Sesame roast chicken

I got this recipe from my MIL who got it from her ethnic Chinese-Vietnamese friend.  I have tweaked it with a load of sea salt and to make it quick & easy.  I don't even bother marinading.  I use leg quarters instead of butterflied whole chicken (culturally we prefer dark meat; it's more flavorful, fatty and nutritious.  Only in the breast obsessed USA does one find bioengineered, factory farmed chickens who are so top heavy they can't walk or breed.  

I call this my "oven-fried chicken" recipe because when the fat renders it leaves the skin this perfect crispy texture while the meat remains moist and tender.  My daughter and her dad love to eat the skin, the cartilage, the marrow, and some bone.

I make this almost weekly.  And one of these days I will take some photos.

Variations include using real olive oil, lard, or avocado oil and using various seasonings/herbs.

Ingredients:

• 6 organic chicken leg quarters (can use a butterflied whole chicken)
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
• lots of sea salt (can use white/bleached sea salt, or mineral-rich grey salt)
• optional organic garlic powder/minced

Equipment:

• roasting pan with a rack
• wide aluminum foil or parchment paper
• baking dish
• silicon marinade brush

Preheat the oven to 470 degrees F. 

Line a roasting pan with foil or parchment paper to catch the grease and insert the roasting rack.  Pour in a 1-2 cups of water so there is a thin layer.  This prevents any burning/smoking.

Fill a square baking dish with the sesame oil.  Dip the leg quarter in the oil and coat any  missing areas using a silicon marinade brush.

Lay the leg on the rack and generously coat both sides with sea salt.  The sea salt keeps the meat moist, helps render the fat/moisture for extra crispiness, and through baking osmosis it is pulled into the meat itself making the meat as  flavorful as if it were brined.  So use more sea salt than you think you will need.  do not fear the sea salt.  If it ends up being too much, you can just crack the salt crust off or take off the skin.

Add water to the roasting pan below the level of the rack to prevent burning/smoking. Roast for 40-50 minutes until the skin is crispy and rendered.  If I am dealing with bigger legs, I will use the last 10-15 minutes to broil it.  You can use the drippings for gravy/au jus if you like.

Allow to cool and shred the chicken while it's still warm and pliable.  Reserve the bones, cartilage, and fatty skin bits for broth/soup (basic recipe here).  Shredded chicken can be used for stir-frys, soup, salads, wraps, spring rolls, etc.  Done this way a chicken can be stretched for 3-4 meals making it actually efficient to buy organic chicken.

Ăn Ngon Lành|Eat Delectably!

Fruit syrup recipe (sugar alternative)

After being completely sugar-free (including refined sugars, raw honey, & fruit) for almost a year to restore my blood sugar balance back in 2012, my palate has shifted and I have a very low tolerance to sweetness.  Although I've reintroduced fruit, then raw honey/unrefined sweeteners, then rarely, some refined sugar, I find that I have a very low threshold for sweetness and I cannot tolerate most refined sugars including all cane/beet, agave, sorbitol, erythritol, etc. and I just don't like stevia.  Coconut palm sugar and palm sugar (non-coconut bearing species) is one of the only (minimally) refined sugars that I can tolerate because it does not spike my blood sugar in the way most refined sugars do. Back in March, I watched pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig's TED talk (20 min) where he lists the 56 names of sugar (his longer groundbreaking 90 min talk here).  While coconut palm sugar was not one of the named, it still is a minimally refined sugar produced in a manner similar to agave or even maple syrup.  

The 

The short attention span 5 minute version: Dr. Robert Lustig on The Colbert Report 

Coconut palm sugar has also been criticized as being "another agave syrup", not being a sustainable industry since any coconut palms used for sugar will not produce viable coconuts, and not traditional in the Philippines.  Other Southeast Asian countries do make use of coconut palm sugar.  I proceed with caution.  Frankly I don't know enough about the industry.  I use both đường thốt nốt | sago palm sugar and coconut palm sugar very infrequently and have created a very low glycemic index fruit syrup alternative. 

In looking for a whole food, low glycemic alternative sweetener, I was inspired by the date syrup recipe in The Dairy-Free & Gluten-Free Kitchen.  But in reviewing the actual sugar content, I noticed that dried dates are very high in sugar, as are my previous ingredient choice, dried figs.  Dried apricots and dried prunes are much lower in sugar content by contrast.  So I suggest a syrup of organic unsulfured dried apricots or organic additive-free prunes as a substitute.  I've revised previous recipes that were made with fig to apricots or prunes.

Faux Cheezy-cake with apricot syrup topping

Ingredients:

• 1.5 c hot water
• 1 cup organic unsulfured dried apricots or organic prunes
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Blend water, dried apricots or prunes, 1 tsp lemon juice.  Cool and store in an airtight glass container.  Keeps for 1 week in the fridge.


Also, check out Sudney Mintz's groundbreaking social history of sugar, Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History which traces the rise of sugar from a precious royal commodity to a working family's common staple.

Ăn Ngon Lành|Eat Delectably!

Dưa Cải Chua|Fermented mustard greens

We can pickle that!

1.5L Kilner, Day 3

I first learned how to make dưa cải chua | pickled mustard greens by calling up my mother a few years back.  Her recipe though called for white vinegar and sugar which is not a true ferment dense with natural probiotics.

Wanting to have a fermented greens rich with probiotics, I turned to the internets.  I found this real foods recipe from Garden Betty and tweaked it to suit my tastes (northern so not spicy and despite being cured of my onion allergies, I still don't love the flavor of raw onions), and I use mineral-rich sea salt rather than bleached/processed pickling salt.  I also don't use her baggy method of weighting since 1) chemicals in plastic such as BPA are endocrine disruptive toxins, and 2) it's not sanitary.

I get my mustard greens from the Asian market or the farmers market since we don't grow it (yet).  Most Asian produce is pesticide-free and not GMO. 

L to R: Fido 5L, Kilner 1.5L, Ball 2QT, Fido .5L, Ball 1QT

You can reuse any old jar or mason jar, however ferments build up pressure as they release gas so you will have to open the lid daily to prevent an explosion.  Salsa jars and kimchi/kimchee jars are better designed to deal with fermenting gases and are preferable to a mayo jar. If you've ever opened a kimchi jar to have it volcano erupt on you, your counter and your clothes, you will come to value an airlock; ferments are not a seductive odor. I've noticed with jars, the veggies are not airtight and therefore go sour faster.  If you are into acquiring ferment specific kitchen gadgetry, at the low end I would recommend an Italian Fido jar that has a clamp which allows gases to release (self-burping) and is airtight (Kilner is another okay UK brand but it's not quite as airtight and it leaks more).  Now that canning is making a comeback, you can frequently find these airtight clamp jars at lower prices in Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Homegoods type discount stores.  (Note: they must indicate they are for home preservation, not just storage or decorative use.  The Ikea clamp ones are not airtight and not suitable for fermenting for example.)  You can get Fido jars and extra gaskets (very important) inexpensively throughout Crate & Barrel Outlet.  For the DIYers, you can make your own airlock ferment jars from mason jars; I've never tried this myself.  This blogger conducted a science experiment to determine which was the best way to ferment.

5L Crock, weights, and búa
(SE Asian pestle)

For those who ferment more frequently or consume more, at the high end, you can get an airtight fermenting crock (Fancypants store William Sonoma has this and so does my favorite Amish homesteading store Lehman's).  I just got my first one, a Boleslawiec, I bought through an HMN member temporarily based in Poland.  It has a water gutter to allow gases to escape and keeps air out.  Crock weights I got from William Sonoma and the pestle I picked up at the Asian market sometime back.  The ones specifically for fermenting are called sauerkraut cabbage crushers and I'm sure are more expensive.

(FYI I am not affiliated with any of the aforementioned stores or companies.  This is my personal opinion.)

Ingredients:

• 3.5 pounds mustard greens
• 2 tablespoons grey salt (or 1.5 tbs himalayan salt)
• plus hot water & 1 tbs grey salt for brine

Materials:

• 1.5L or 2 QT jar
• (optional) a wide mouth funnel
• rock sterilized in boiling water
• a pestle, cabbage crusher, your fist & forearm

The traditional way of washing greens uses less water than letting the faucet run.  Fill a bucket or large bowl with water and submerge the mustard greens to wash them.  Plunge the greens up and down to get the water sloshing; the dirt and sediment sink to the bottom.  Rub your thumbs across the inner stalks to remove any dirt.  Remove the greens and compost the water lightly rinsing any residue off the bucket.  Repeat at least once more until clean.

Drain the greens in a colander.  In the ideal world, you would be patient enough to dry them either spread out in the sun or by air dry.  Sometimes, I just salt them somewhat damp.  In the future, I think I will use my food dehydrator to quickly dry the greens which along with salting helps the cellulose to contract making for a crunchier pickle.

Chop up the mustard greens and toss with 2 tbs of grey sea salt.  Let this sit for at least 30 minutes so that the water can release.  If you shortcut this and the greens don't have time to absorb the salt, the mustard greens will be mushy.

While the above two steps are taking place, prep your jar.  With any container, I recommend pouring boiling water over the inside to kill off any mold spores or undesirable bacteria.  

When the greens are ready (bright green, salt is dissolved), put the greens in the jar.  Use your hands to handle the greens to colonize it with the good bacteria from your own micro-biome (that's not just love in your momma's cooking, it's her bacteria!) and build/boost/share your immunity.  Pour the juices into the jar as well.  If it's not enough to cover, make a brine of 1 tbs sea salt dissolved in 2 cups hot water and then cooled to a  tepid temperature so you don't cook the greens or kill the good bacteria.  You need to keep the greens below the waterline to avoid spoilage.  Tamp it down (I use a búa--a Southeast Asian wooden pestle that I picked up for a few bucks at the Asian market a few years back); you could also use your clean fist (rinsed clean, not soaped clean; don't kill off your friendly bacteria!).  Use a weight or a rock to keep the greens submerged.

Note the overflow froth
at the clamp of the Kilner.

Also if the greens are full up to the top, place the jar in a rimmed dish to catch any liquid overflow as it burps.  I always forget this step and the worst was when i made sauerkraut with purple cabbage.  It looked like the Smoochy the Rhino got shanked in my pantry cabinet. (Death to Smoochy clip below.)

Store the fermenting greens in a cool place such as a cabinet.  Check it every few days.  If you smell mold or it's discolored, it must be dumped.  So keep it airtight and the greens under the waterline!  Also, open slowly, contents under pressure!  Greens will be ready to eat in about a week, but if left 4 weeks, it will continue to ferment and develop optimal strains of probiotics.  You can refrigerate after day 28 if you wish however the fermenting is complete (keep in mind fermenting is preserving so it should be shelf stable as long as it is airtight and below the water).

Dưa cải chua is typically served with other pungent sweet-salty dishes like caramelized fish or caramelized pork.

In case you didn't know, the new sports drink is pickle juice.  Like whaaat?  

• H2O--check
• Sodium--check
• Electrolytes--check 

And if it's a real ferment (not made with white vinegar) then it's got probiotics.  Great way to rehydrate.  I think the ferment juice from dưa cải chua would be... special.

BONUS RECIPE

Dưa cải chua xào thịt | Pork & pickled mustard greens stirfry

My stepdad also makes this great dish stir-frying it with thịt heo quay | BBQ pork or with fresh, tender pork.  I'm not sure of the origins of this dish but it's not something you will find in a restaurant.  This be some soul food.  I think there's some Sinic influence as the only other time I've had it outside of my parents' home is at a Ngai Hoa funeral (subethnic Chinese in Vietnam) for my friend Tuyền's father.

I had a hankering for it the other day and stir fried it with some bacon because that is the pork I had on hand.  This is probably a little on the salty side, but sea salt is dịu or less harsh/salty than regular table salt.  The fat complements the tangy, briny bite of the mustard greens.  Pork works best, but you can use other meats but choose a fatty meat/cut like lamb.  I suggest stir frying with pasture-raised lard (yes, lard) and a little bit of freshly ground black pepper.  If you don't have lard, (untoasted) sesame oil or coconut oil would suit.  If you like it spicy, add chile peppers.

Ingredients:

• fermented mustard greens
• pork or fatty meat
• lard or neutral oil
• fresh ground black pepper
• optional chile peppers

Sauté the pork with black pepper and chile in a skillet or wok until partially cooked.  Add the pickled mustard greens and sauté until warmed.  Serve warm over rice.

Ăn Ngon Lành|Eat Delectably!

corn-free, glutamate-free

Over the last couple of years in my journey to wellbeing, I've come to accept that healing my body doesn't mean I get to eat whatever I want.  When I eat crappy food, I feel like crap.  Hence my avoidance of my main triggers--processed foods, wheat/gluten, dairy, refined sugar, caffeine, and soy.

Last month, I attended a talk for the Holistic Moms Network on "Additives & Mental Health" by biochemist Dr. Katherine Reid.  After reviewing 1 million research articles correlating glutamate with a variety of chronic and auto-immune diseases, Dr. Reid concluded that Americans have an overabundance of glutamates in their diet primarily from processed foods; this isn't just MSG, but glutamates in all their secret iterations.  I learned that processed proteins (includes meat, grains and legumes) release free glutamates.  So the dairy/wheat intolerance connection is that through processing (homogenization or milling), they both release free glutamates.  This is the smoking gun for dietary intolerance.

I was also surprised to learn that the popular "natural" preservative citric acid does not come from citrus but is chemically derived from corn.  

That was the push I decided we needed to go corn-free again (I was briefly corn-free the year I got pregnant with my daughter).  Since we don't eat much in the way of processed foods, I assume it won't be too hard. Our main corn intake comes in the form of non-GMO corn tortillas, organic tortilla chips, organic popcorn, and infrequently, nixtamal made from homegrown native corn.  I've observed that eating homemade organic popcorn makes me irritable and bloated, most likely from the indigestibility of non-alkalinized corn but now I'm thinking glutamate connection.

I've been trying to figure out why my daughter has been getting sick every 2-3 weeks this winter.  In previous years, there was a clear correlation with wheat.  Once we cut it out, her nighttime congestion cleared up.  

My MIL bless her heart came over the other day with homemade bánh giò|tapioca dumplings wrapped in banana leaves and cơm gà|chicken & rice and sầu riêng|durian just as I cooking up a toothsome sweet potato, kale, and bacon frittata for lunch.  My daughter will choose Vietnamese food over Western food and went for the  bánh giò.  She only ate the chicken filling and left behind the outer dumpling so I ate it for her; I later found out was made from tapioca and cornstarch rather than the traditional rice & tapioca starch.   A short time later, I noticed a rash on my left inner elbow--miliary dermatitis but didn't pay much attention.  By the evening I had a generalized rashiness in my bloodstream (an itch below the skin that cannot be scratched or localized), digestive upset and accelerated hunger despite eating meals.  So I made the connection to the cornstarch (perhaps an anti-caking agent/dough conditioner or perhaps just the processing releasing glutamates).  I drank some nettle infusion and took a probiotic.  I experienced a relapse of symptoms in the night;  I woke up at 3am hot & sweaty, hungry and digestively uncomfortable.  This used to happen every night but had abated over the last few months when I upped my hydration and come to think, when I stopped relying on tortilla chips for snacking.

So there you have it.  There is no magic test one can take, no owner's manual one can read to figure out what ails one.  One has to overcome decades of socialization around ignoring one's body cues to relearn how to pay attention to the signals one's body sends in direct response to input (food, air/breath, water, sleep, environment).

And yet another thing to add to my dietary parameters/intolerance list (see masthead above).

Ăn Ngon Lành | Eat Delectably!