Before going to Guizhou, I heard about the notorious fish mint root, considered a delicacy in the southwestern Chinese province. The Chinese call it 折耳根 folded ear root or 鱼腥草 fishy weed.
But it is neither a mint nor a root. It is a rhizome like ginger, asparagus, etc.
It is also called fish wort in English, diếp cá in Vietnamese, etc. The Vietnamese eat the leaves raw, but here in Guizhou, they eat only the stem. In this article, I shall use its common English name fish mint root.
Fish mint roots are sold together with other fresh vegetables at the market in Guizhou.
I made a quick run to the market near my hotel and came across stalls selling huge piles of fish mint root. Yeah, they eat a lot of these roots here in Guizhou.
Guizhou people must have fish mint root in one form or another with every meal.
But, it has a bad reputation of tasting and smelling like puddles of stale fishy water in the wet market - which is a fair and apt description 😅
Anyway, I was extremely curious about it and was looking forward for the first opportunity to try it.
That's why I wondered why we still didn't have fish mint root by our second day in Guizhou 🤔
I couldn't hold back and asked our host about it.
She replied that she was worried that most of us would not be able to take it because of its unusual taste. Nevertheless, she agreed to serve us a fish mint root dish at our next meal.
So, here it is.
A salad of preserved vegetables, spices, chili pepper, savoury sauces and fish mint root (which looked like bean sprout stems).
The fish mint root is tender, slightly fibrous, crunchy, moist, and indeed, has that proverbial stale fish taste and smell when you bite into it.
I can see why it can be unpalatable to many if eaten on its own in mouthfuls. The fishy taste would be overwhelming.
But, once I got past the initial revulsion reaction, I soon learned to appreciate it.
Fish mint root is used in Guizhou cuisine as part of dips, relishes, salads, soups, dishes, everything.
The distinctive fishy taste punctuates the dishes etc, complemented / complementing the other ingredients, and as a whole greater than its parts, making everything taste better.
Now, I have a craving for fish mint root taste, and would love to enjoy it again.
But, why would anyone eat such a foul tasting vegetable in the first place, let alone have it in everything they eat?
According to legend, in 越国 Yue Kingdom between 500BC - 300BC (nearly 3000 years ago), there was poor harvest and famine threatened the people. Eating roots was one of the life savings options but people were reluctant to eat fish mint root because of its foul taste.
The king of Yue, set a personal example by eating fish mint root himself. Following that, eating fish mint root became normalised and today is eaten with relish everyday in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Guangxi.
Besides its acquired taste, fish mint root is also sought after for its purported anti-viral, anti-inflammatory properties and medicinal benefits such as strengthening the immune system. (Where can I get it in Singapore or Malaysia?)
Try it and let us know how you like it, or hate it.
Written by Tony Boey on 8 Dec 2024
I use to buy the Fish Mint Root at the Chinatown market
ReplyDeleteIt help with my eczema when boiled with water and drink