TRAVELLIVE MAGAZINE Travellive 01-2016 | Page 91

V ietnamese can create hundreds of different dishes with a variety of flowers: pumpkin flowers, banana blossom, sesbania sesban, hyacinth flowers, shallot flowers, loopah flowers, lotus, sadao flowers, fig flowers, telosma cordata and more. In the South of Vietnam, yellow pumpkin flowers are most favored as they are eyecatching and yummy. Once while eating pumpkin flowers stuffed with prawn, my friend was so surprised to find out that to cook this dish, we only select {male} flowers and save {female} ones for the continuance of race. Boiled pumpkin flowers are sweet and the petiole is a little bit tough. You can explore the art of flowers and leaves in Vietnamese cuisine at: SQUARE ONE Park Hyatt Hotel, 2 Lam Son Square, Dist. 1, HCMC Tel: 08 3520 2359 SI RESTAURANT 7A Ngo Van Nam Str., Dist.1, HCMC Tel: 08 3829 6066 SAIGON COOKING CLASS 74/7 Hai Ba Trung Str., Dist.1, HCMC Tel: 08 3825 8485. Cuisines made from pumpkin are often served on festive seasons. I love pumpkin flowers stuffed with prawn, which is crispy, aromatic with sweet flavor of prawn. When you get bored with flowers, try grilled beef with piper lolot, fried rice with Ocimum basilicum L. var. pilosum or BBQ chicken with bamboo. Grilled beef with piper lolot is a signature dish. I like sitting somewhere in small lane in the heart of Saigon, chatting with friends and sniffing the smell of fat grilled on a broiling plate on slightly rainy days. After the are grilled, piper lolot leaves still remain green. This kind of leaf makes the dish more flavorsome and prevents beef from being burned when we use coal. Taste it once and you will always be enticed by piper lolot. Grilled beef is more special with piper lolot. Also, piper lolot is good for your health, especially when you get tired because of changing weather. Order some plates of grilled beef with piper lolot and you can refill your energy. If you have a chance to visit Phu Yen Province, the set of {Dear Brother, I see yellow flowers on green grass}, do not forget to experience rice with Ocimum basilicum L. var. pilosum (Vietnamese basil). Strangely aromatic! Don't confuse this kind of leaf with Thai basil as Vietnamese basil is more aromatic. These leaves are crushed and mixed with rice. To completely enjoy its flavor, fried rice is recommended. For those who have a headache, this dish will help them to release the pain as Vietnamese basil is also a traditional medicine. It's quite weird but if they are planted in sandy soil in the harsh Central of Vietnam, they are more flavorsome than those planted in fertile lands. So, if you want to taste the Central flavor, then buy this kind of leaf to cook with rice or mix with salt. Many international tourists shared that while travelling in Vietnam, the best thing is eating. They can eat a lot without worrying about their weight as there are lots of healthy foods. The culinary world is the world of flowers, leaves, fruits, from a variety of spices such as small spring onion, cumin, coriander and perilla to signature dishes. You are free to bring all kinds of flowers, and even bamboo to your kitchen to cook. TRAVELLIVE 91