Since returning from Thailand, I’ve been trying to track down “morning glory,” which was a dish I had there a few times and loved. In Cambodia, I chuckled at a handwritten translation which read “morning glossy.” Like any self-respecting librarian, I did a little background research before I started my hunt. For something like this, I’ll trust wikipedia.
One problem in asking for it at Asian groceries is that it has many different names, depending on location: “water spinach, swamp cabbage, water convolvulus, water morning-glory, kangkung (Indonesian, Malay), kangkong (Tagalog), eng chhai (Hokkien), tangkong (Cebuano), kang kung (Sinhalese), trawkoon ( Khmer: ត្រកួន), pak boong (in Thai: ผักบุ้ง) (Thai), rau muống (Vietnamese), kongxincai (Chinese: 空心菜; pinyin: kōngxīncài; literally “Hollow Hearted Vegetable”), Hong Sum Choy (Hakka), ong chai (Foochow), and ong choy or tung choi (Cantonese pronunciation of 蕹菜, ngônkcôi; pinyin: wéngcài)., (Ken-Zun) in Burmese, Thooti koora in Telugu; Kalmisag, Sarnali, Ganthian in Hindi ; In Assamese it is called Kolmou; In Bangla Kolmi Shak or Kolmi Lota.” When I called Fubonn and Uwajimaya, neither person knew what I meant by “morning glory.” It was only by chance that I noticed Sala Thai Grocery on the way to the Farmers’ Market.
I greeted the two women and girl with a “sawadee kup” — one of the few phrases I know. Then I asked for morning glory. They didn’t know it by that name, but when I described it, one of the women walked me to the fridge, pulled out a generous bunch of greens and asked if that’s what I wanted. It was!
In some stores, pushy salespeople might try to sell you lots of stuff you don’t need, but I realized when she started pulling items off of the shelves, that she was also explaining how to prepare the morning glory and that these were the additional ingredients. Not only did I score the veggies themselves, but I got cooking advice!
This is a very good thing because I had been so fixated on finding the plant, that I’d never even thought about HOW to make them. I guess I kept thinking, “it’s just a stir fry.”
Fortunately, it IS very easy to make, but there are some unexpected ingredients. Here’s what I used:
Garlic (we grew way too much garlic this past season, and it’s starting to green) and some red peppers (I can’t remember what kind, but I ate some seeds and couldn’t taste them. I gave some to K and she had to rinse out her mouth from the heat.)
Fermented beans, oyster sauce, and also some soy (not pictured).
The secret ingredient is sugar. In Thailand, you could always find sugar on the table. You’re even supposed to put some on your pad thai. Who knew?
According to wikipedia, the Chinese don’t eat large quantities of morning glory because it’s hollow inside, and can therefore render the person who’s eating it weak and hollow. In the photo, you’ll note my use of the salad spinner to clean the plants. They grow in water (roadside ditches?), so I thought a good washing might help.
I chopped the morning glory into three inch pieces, heated some oil, fried the garlic and peppers, threw in the plants, and started stirring immediately. They cooked so quickly that I had to scramble to add the oyster (a few tablespoons) and soy sauces (just a little) and about a teaspoon of sugar. A minute later, it was done.
In my frenzy, I’d forgotten to make rice, but I did have a side of canned jackfruit. If you’ve had it fresh, I don’t recommend the canned can. But the morning glory itself was pretty damn good. I like things I can cook in a few minutes and which don’t require multitasking.
The Thai name for this recipe is pad pak bung fai daeng. There are some variations out there. Better yet, watch the video for the flame effect, which I did not try at home.
Recent Comments