Rustic Tamarind Sour Soup

(Baonghean) - Only silently growing green in the damp land at the end of the garden or along the banks of ditches and dry fields, when the season comes, it shyly blooms with purple flowers, the tamarind tree is gentle and kind in life. On hot days, a bowl of soup cooked with tamarind leaves can somewhat ease the sultry heat of the summer afternoon. The tree is gentle as its name, but it goes into the nostalgia of a time.

The tree that no one planted, just grew up in hidden corners, then quietly offered its sour taste to the country's soup bowl and as medicine to save people. In my memories of the past, when summer came, under the guava trees with wide canopies, tiny, lush green tamarind vines grew. The tamarind leaves were green with three heart-shaped petals, and were called clover by the village children. One morning, the sun flooded the garden, and the tamarind vines suddenly bloomed with cool purple flowers. The five-petaled flowers were as small as buttons, initially pale white, then gradually dyed purple. Under the guava canopy, ants were scurrying around, carrying dry leaves. Then the tamarind fruits sprouted, the children hid a pinch of salt in their palms, picked firm ones, dipped them in salt, and nibbled on them. The tamarind fruits were more sour than the leaves, and eating a lot made them addicted. The tamarind vines grew and spread on the ground, with light red stems and few hairs. The tamarind leaves had long, thin, slightly hairy petioles. The flowers grow in clusters of 2-3, sometimes 4 purple, and sometimes yellow. During the summer afternoons wandering around looking for wild vegetables, we kids sometimes invited each other to pick tamarind leaves to chew for fun, the sour taste of tamarind leaves after eating has a very sweet aftertaste.

Remembering the days long gone, in March when the sun started to dry and heat up, every time she found a snakehead fish to bring home to her mother, the family would have a meal of sour tamarind soup. After the fish was done, her mother marinated it with onions, chili, spices... and put it in a pot, poured enough water (usually a few bowls of water), boiled until the water boiled, the fish was cooked, then added tamarind leaves. There weren't many tamarind leaves, only a few handfuls were picked, but that was enough to make a special sour soup. The pot of soup was just cooked and scooped into an old plastic bowl, the broth was very clear, clearly seeing each piece of smooth white snakehead fish, the fresh green color of tamarind leaves, the aroma of onions and coriander. The sweetness of the snakehead fish mixed with the sour taste of tamarind gave the soup an indescribable flavor, both rustic and elegant. Sour tamarind soup is not as sour as when using tamarind or star fruit, but gently melts into the tongue, the characteristic aftertaste of the dish is not bland. The rustic soup has a very distinctive taste, the sweetness of snakehead fish, the mild sourness of tamarind leaves, the spiciness of chili, each bite of rice is like a gentle, cool south wind. It is a rustic, profound, sweet flavor of the simple old days. If you don't have fresh fish, use dried shrimp or dried anchovies to cook soup with tamarind leaves, which is also a refreshing dish for summer days.

There were foggy days when the market had a lot of anchovies. Mom bought a bunch of fresh anchovies, tore them in half, removed the bones and heads, washed them with salt water to shrink them, then marinated them with shallots, pepper, and fish sauce and drained them. The pot of boiling water was bubbling, and the bunch of anchovies was poured in to cook. The smell of pepper and onion mixed with the sweet anchovy meat wafted up, making her nose tingle. The soft, gentle tamarind leaves picked from around the garden were washed and added to the pot of soup when it was taken off the stove. The meal seemed to be filled with the scent of the garden and the sea around the rustic, cool pot of fish soup.

Although it is quiet, the sorrel plant is also a medicine that cures many diseases with unexpected effectiveness. I still remember when I was a child, I often had acne, my mother often went to the garden to find sorrel plants, washed them, crushed them to get the juice for me to drink, and applied the pulp to the swollen area to help it heal quickly. Sorrel has a cold nature, so it is used to treat skin diseases such as ulcers, boils, burns... very effectively.

Then the old days passed, for a long time no one mentioned sour tamarind soup. One day in March, by chance, I saw the humble purple color in my friend’s old garden, and I was filled with nostalgia for the delicious sweet and sour soup. My heart yearned to return to my childhood, to the old garden with the pretty green three-leaf umbrellas, the gentle little purple flower buds mixed with the grass…

Purple Pen