Artichoke Stewed Pork Soup A Lovely Specialty From Dalat
Artichoke has many benefits to your health and immune system, and it is also used to make most of the
Hoang Lan
Artichoke stew with pork trotter has become one of the most popular dishes in Đa Lạt, resident To Minh Hue said, noting that it is also a top choice for anyone visiting the city.
Artichoke, originating from the Mediterranean, was brought to Đa Lạt by the French more than a century ago because the locality has temperate climate that is cool all year round, Hue said.
The artichoke flowers and leaves are often used in cooking and in medicines. Locals pick the leaves when the tree is just blossoming. They cook the leaves and flowers with pork bones or pig liver, but the most popular dish is artichoke stew with pig's feet, he said, adding that this dish was named in the top 50 specialties of Viet Nam in 2012 by the Asia Book of Records
Ingredients to cook the dish include pork trotters, artichoke flowers, carrot, fresh onion, coriander, dried purple onion, salt, pepper, and pork broth.
Hue told Viet Nam News that to cook the dish, first you clean the pork trotters and cut them into pieces. Then parboil it, before letting them cool and marinating them with minced dried onion, salt, pepper, sugar and broth for half an hour.
Hue said the dish should be served with hot chili mixed with quality fish sauce.
A visitor from Ha Noi, Đoan Viet Hưng, said he likes the dish very much. It is particularly suitable for winter because it helps to warm up your body and give you strength.
“It’s also great if you eat the dish in summer, it will help to cool down the heat,” he said, noting that when visiting Đa Lạt he often went to a restaurant at 199 Phu Đổng Thien Vương Street in Ward 8, or Thien Hương Restaurant at 3F Bui Thị Xuan, Ward 2, to savour the dish.
Hưng said he often buys fresh artichoke flowers for his wife to cook the dish and dried ones for his mother to make artichoke tea.
According to nutritionists from the National Institute of Nutrition, artichoke is very good for health. It has many nutritional properties.
The use of artichoke helps with liver ailments, gall stones and high cholesterol, the nutritionists said.
Đa Lạt herbalist Trần Văn Nam said he often uses dried artichoke flowers to help patients with snakebites, osteoarthritis and diuretics. Artichoke tea can also help with sleep problems.
“The artichoke leaves and flowers are particularly good for the skin,” Nam said. VNS
