Rau Rang stir fried with Sambal Belacan
Julia and I decided to be a bit adventurous as get this bitter vegetable for a stir fry. When I asked the lady in the shop, in Cantonese, what this was called, she paused and said that it was called "rau rang" in Vietnamese. She said it was good for cooling the system, very good for you, but extremely bitter. Stir fry with dried shrimp was her command.
... and so I did a Rau Rang stir fried with Sambal Belacan, and yes, it was very bitter! Quite tender once you removed the more fibrous root sectios, but bitter, very bitter.
I think that it is part of the purslane (Portulaca oleracea ) family, with succulent stems and short stubby leaves.
If anyone can confirm this, please leave a comment, or send me a flickrmail.
Update 2007.10.30: I happened to stumble upon the name rau dang / foo yip (Cantonese for 苦叶 or bitter leaf) on the pages of the Department of Primary Industries, Victoria, via Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database of Melbourne University.
The MMPND is amazing! The list of Malay index of banana names alone is amazing. And I thought I knew a thing or two about bananas :P
Update 2008.03.04: Rau Dang - [(Viet), Foo Yip (Cantonese), Glinus oppositifolius] apparently...
Update 2010.08.21: Mystery solved thanks to the Vietnamese Cuisine, Herbs section in the Wikipedia. This is rau đắng, or Bacopa monnieri. Used raw as a herb as a topping for soups rather than stir-fried as a side dish.
Rau Rang stir fried with Sambal Belacan
Julia and I decided to be a bit adventurous as get this bitter vegetable for a stir fry. When I asked the lady in the shop, in Cantonese, what this was called, she paused and said that it was called "rau rang" in Vietnamese. She said it was good for cooling the system, very good for you, but extremely bitter. Stir fry with dried shrimp was her command.
... and so I did a Rau Rang stir fried with Sambal Belacan, and yes, it was very bitter! Quite tender once you removed the more fibrous root sectios, but bitter, very bitter.
I think that it is part of the purslane (Portulaca oleracea ) family, with succulent stems and short stubby leaves.
If anyone can confirm this, please leave a comment, or send me a flickrmail.
Update 2007.10.30: I happened to stumble upon the name rau dang / foo yip (Cantonese for 苦叶 or bitter leaf) on the pages of the Department of Primary Industries, Victoria, via Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database of Melbourne University.
The MMPND is amazing! The list of Malay index of banana names alone is amazing. And I thought I knew a thing or two about bananas :P
Update 2008.03.04: Rau Dang - [(Viet), Foo Yip (Cantonese), Glinus oppositifolius] apparently...
Update 2010.08.21: Mystery solved thanks to the Vietnamese Cuisine, Herbs section in the Wikipedia. This is rau đắng, or Bacopa monnieri. Used raw as a herb as a topping for soups rather than stir-fried as a side dish.