Vegetarian!

(Baonghean) - I don't know since when, but I know that since I was a little kid, I have followed my aunt and mother in the early mornings to the temple to worship Buddha. At that time, my aunt and mother often prepared a couple of candles, a box of incense sticks, some fruits, yellow chrysanthemums still wet with dew,... called "a little gift, a lot of heart" to respectfully offer to the Tam Bao temple. Among the offerings that seemed to never be missing were the oan cakes carefully wrapped in colorful cellophane. Like other children of the same age, I really enjoyed this cake, first playing with it, then eating it, the sweet, fragrant taste has followed me throughout my childhood memories. My brother often hit me on the head and criticized me: "So stupid, all starch, nothing to like". Yet many years later, I still have feelings not only for oan cakes, but also for other vegetarian dishes, which of course are all "all starch, nothing to like"!

Sometimes when I think about it, I am sure that I am somewhat influenced by my mother. It is understandable, the daughter is close to her mother. My mother has a bland taste, so sometimes she takes the trouble to go to the market to find a few rustic ingredients such as taro, soybeans, mushrooms, etc. combined with spices such as soy sauce, turmeric powder, red annatto powder, etc., preparing a simple vegetarian meal for the days when her "beloved daughter" calls home to whine, "I'm so tired of meat and fish, Mom!". On those occasions, whenever I come home, my mother will have a bowl of hot, sticky rice with a few plates of vegetarian food, sometimes shaped into pearl shrimp, pork belly, other days it is fragrant and fatty slices of ham, golden fried spring rolls dipped in soy sauce to "go with rice", and there is always a "bonus" of a bowl of delicious, sweet mixed mushroom soup. As for me, I just have to dive in to enjoy, eating while smiling with satisfaction under my mother's loving gaze. Mom barely touched her chopsticks, just sat there peacefully watching her child eating not just a meal but also her whole love, occasionally putting more food in my bowl, then urging me to try to eat a little more.

Simple but unforgettable vegetarian dishes like a mother's heart.

My brother always said that the ingredients of vegetarian dishes were “similar”, but he did not understand how my mother could skillfully create dishes that looked authentic, smelled appealing, and tasted unique. When he asked my mother, she just smiled: “It’s nothing, although the ingredients are not much different, but the way they are mixed and processed; then the meticulousness in shaping, adding a little sophistication when stir-frying, seasoning, then it is easy to complete this simple vegetarian meal”. My father humorously added: “And most importantly, the dish must be “branded” by the two of us personally cooking to create a unique flavor”. Indeed, seeing my mother meticulously prepare vegetarian dishes for the whole family’s meals, I could somewhat understand the precious feelings she saved for her children and grandchildren, caring about each meal and sleep of the members; At the same time, I do not forget to educate and teach my children about good and right things, and the right and lasting moral values. Having the opportunity to travel to many places and eat many specialties, for me, delicious food is not only because of the fresh and clean ingredients, or the elaborate and complicated preparation process, nor is it in the way it is presented on the dining table, but is the crystallization and blending of the flavor of love, above all, maternal love associated with the initial lessons of being human.

Guests who come to visit our house often say that my brother and I have a simple lifestyle. I don’t consider that a compliment, or rather, that compliment is not for us. It is the stories and teachings of our mother that have shaped us from childhood to adulthood. Even in the exquisite, yet extremely simple dishes that our mother prepares for her children every day, there are philosophies of life that the previous generation wants to convey to the next generation. Children are the “projection” of their mother, and we young people learn from our parents a humble, kind, loving, and close-to-nature lifestyle through the daily meals our mother cooks. In my opinion, there are many similarities between vegetarian dishes and our mother that seem not difficult to recognize. Vegetarian dishes have something that makes the diners feel the simple but very sophisticated flavor, familiar but not boring, the appearance of each dish is not too fussy or stylized but attracts the eyes, just like the mother in the mind of each child. The image of the person who has the grace to give birth and raise, teach every step of the child, whether when they are still toddlers or when they are mature and experienced, is always simple, intimate but possesses unique traits in personality, elegant features in language, gestures that cannot be confused with anyone else.

Vegetarian dishes are easy to make, the ingredients are easy to find because they are all available around us, but on the first or fifteenth of the lunar month, or even on normal days, vegetarian meals still hold a very special position, just like the role of the mother in the family is always steadfast through the years despite the changes of the dust of time. It is not by chance that people still say "men build houses, women build homes", although not noisy or ostentatious, the silent sacrifices of mothers for the family cannot be described with any measure!

Thu Giang