Lotus season...

(Baonghean) - CThis afternoon, passing by the fragrant lotus pond in Uncle Ho's hometown, I saw a glimpse of a grandmother with a bent back picking lotus seeds. She stopped, stepped onto the bank, peeled fresh lotus seeds, and chewed them, suddenly reminding me of my grandmother, of the lotus pond in my hometown, of the sweet fragrance of lotus flowers and lotus pistils in the lotus blooming season, of my grandmother's thin, wrinkled hands cooking fragrant lotus seed porridge...

Mrs. Bien Thi Em picked lotus to bring home.

In my hometown, there are lotus ponds in front of the house. When the lotus season comes, the neighbors roll up their pants to go to the lake to pick lotus, and after picking a bunch of lotus, everyone's legs turn bright red. I still clearly remember the long red scratches on my grandmother's calves every time she comes up from the lotus pond. She handed me the lotus, smiled brightly, and said: "I'm old, the lotus thorns can't hurt my legs, my child." But the lotus thorns scratched my legs, and my aunt kept blaming her... She lovingly scolded: "You're only good at knocking children's heads, but you're bad at everything else." Having said that, my grandmother carried the lotus bouquet into the house, and put the fragrant fresh lotus flowers in a vase on the altar for my grandfather. I heard my grandmother whisper: "When the lotus season comes, I'll pick lotus flowers for you again, and later I'll cook lotus sweet soup that you used to like to eat when you were alive."

The pure white lotus seeds were wrapped in a green shell, green like the color of lotus leaves, the kind of leaves that my grandmother used to pick and dry every lotus season to make water to drink. The lotus leaves that we children used to wear on our heads on summer afternoons, so she insisted that my grandmother wade into the pond to pick lotus leaves. Even though the midday sun was scorching, my grandmother still indulged us, wading into the pond to pick a handful of lotus leaves to satisfy her childish joy. Little did we know that every time she set foot in the pond, her feet would be scratched by the lotus thorns, but she still smiled happily at us. Since I knew about lotus flowers, I saw my grandmother busy in the lotus pond all day, sometimes catching worms, sometimes catching egg sacs as big as my finger that stuck to the lotus stems and leaves. That was it, from early morning until noon, she would come home.

Occasionally, my grandmother would take the towel she usually hung on her shoulder to wipe her sweat, and fan herself with her hat. One time I asked: "This season, the lotus hasn't bloomed yet, why do you keep wading into the lotus pond?" My grandmother smiled kindly and said gently: "It's not the lotus season now, but the lotus still needs to be taken care of, my child. If we take good care of it, it will give many flowers and many seeds when the lotus season comes." Every lotus season, my grandmother never picked lotus to sell at the market. Many people passing by my lotus pond (my house is next to the inter-commune road) were familiar with it, but strangely, they kept asking to buy lotus flowers. My grandmother didn't sell them, but she still waded into the pond to pick a few flowers or an old lotus mirror to give as a gift. My grandmother said that the lotus flowers bloomed beautifully, and that the lotus flowers had a pure, pleasant scent. When she was little, my grandmother often picked lotus flowers to sniff at and kept on her bedside table. When the lotus flower fades, the lotus mirror begins to produce seeds. After a few weeks, the lotus mirror will produce mature lotus seeds that can be eaten fresh, cooked into sweet soup, porridge, or dried for later use.

A lotus mirror has over 20 lotus seeds. When peeling the lotus from the mirror (the lotus mirror is as big as the mouth of a rice bowl), my grandmother carefully takes out the lotus seeds so that they do not break. In the middle of the lotus seed there is a small pistil. My grandmother uses a small knife to cut off both ends of the lotus seed and pull out the pistil. She looks very careful and meticulous. Many times, I asked: "Grandma, why don't you split the lotus seeds in half to make it faster?". "If you leave the seeds whole, everything will look beautiful when cooked, my child. The pistil inside the lotus seed must be removed so that it is not bitter when eaten." Every lotus season, my grandmother still keeps the habit of going to the lake to choose the biggest and oldest lotus mirrors to give to the neighbors. Families with young children and the elderly, my grandmother gives more lotus mirrors because my grandmother says that eating lotus seeds helps you sleep better. For the elderly and children, eating lotus seeds will cool the liver and help them sleep well. The day my mother was born, she often cried and was lazy to eat. But my grandfather went to the lake to pick some lotus flowers, took them in to remove the seeds and cook porridge. My mother ate them, slept well, and played well.

My hometown often gives each other lotus mirrors like that, today this family brings a lotus mirror, tomorrow another family brings a bowl of lotus sweet soup, a bowl of lotus porridge, every time lotus season comes, the village is bustling. The happiest are still the moonlit summer nights, every family gathers around the lotus pond to enjoy the sweet fragrance, enjoy the wind. Every time the whole family sits and watches the lotus pond at night, my grandmother often says: "The lotus is fragrant thanks to the pistil of the lotus, so in our hometown, whether hungry or full, no one wants to sell lotus flowers, so the lotus can spread its fragrance, both beautiful and fragrant."

Every year, my grandmother's lotus pond has big, firm seeds. She can harvest a basket of lotus seeds to dry, not to mention she gave them away as gifts, then cooked sweet soup, cooked porridge and used fresh lotus seeds to eat for a whole month. When the lotus season is over, people in my hometown pick the leaves, dry them and use them to make drinking water, the same goes for lotus leaves, so my family and my hometown have lotus water to drink all year round. My grandmother's lotus flower and lotus leaf water is so delicious, no one can cook it like that, fragrant, rich and sweet. When asked, my grandmother just smiled: "If you put a lot of lotus stamens, the lotus flowers will be delicious and fragrant, but there is no talent or secret." Then the bowl of pure white lotus tea that my grandmother cooked mixed with brown sugar and sticky rice, the fragrance is indescribable, my sisters and I ate it forever without getting bored. Every summer afternoon, when we woke up, my grandmother had cooked a pot of lotus tea, scooped it into small bowls for the whole family to eat.

This afternoon, I passed by the fragrant lotus pond, where Uncle Ho's hometown is Kim Lien... The lotus followed my grandmother's hand, my mother's hand back to the red-tiled house. Mrs. Bien Thi Em (90 years old) in Hoang Tru, Kim Lien (Nam Dan) bent down to pick lotus, her back bent like my grandmother's in the past, I suddenly felt a surge of nostalgia for my grandmother. Mrs. Em stepped onto the shore, she peeled the white old lotus seeds and put them in her mouth to eat, while eating she kept praising: "The lotus in the main season has real seeds, my child, eat them, they're delicious." Holding the lotus from Mrs. Em's hand, a feeling of familiarity surged. It has been more than 30 years since my grandmother peeled the lotus seeds in the pond for me to eat, that sweet, rich, fragrant taste still lingers. Grandma Em said: "My hometown grows lotus for beauty, to serve tourists every time they come to Uncle Ho's hometown. Few people pick lotus flowers to sell. When the lotus flowers wither and turn into seeds, the seeds are used to cook sweet soup, porridge, dry them, or eat them raw like this one. A few people dry the lotus seeds and sell them to traditional medicine stores."

Following Mrs. Em home, her husband, Mr. Tran Van Ty (92 years old), had just finished cooking a pot of lotus water. He used an electric fan to blow the water to cool it down quickly, then handed the cup of lotus water to the guest and chatted: "Now, I'm weak and can't cook as much lotus water as before. I only cook about 2 pots a day. I mainly serve guests passing by Lang Sen, not for sale." Mr. Ty used to be a cadre of Kim Lien commune, then worked as Secretary and Chairman of Kim Lien commune for many years. Since his retirement, he has been taking care of the lotus pond with his wife every day, enjoying his children and grandchildren. When the lotus season comes, he waits for the lotus flowers to start to bud, then when the lotus blooms... or the old lotus mirrors.

He takes care of every change from lotus to maturity, knows which lotus blooms at what time, which seeds are full on what day... Therefore, his lotus pond has many, full seeds. After the lotus season, he picks lotus leaves to cut and boil to drink, all year round he cooks lotus water to offer to tourists from near and far, there are many familiar guests, many strangers. Mr. Ty said that in the past, Hoang Tru had a large lotus pond, called the lotus pond of Chua village. The pond mainly grew lotus, every lotus season, people gathered around the lotus pond to listen to the singing of the folk songs, the singing of the fabric guilds, very happy. When the lotus seeds were full, each family sent a person down to the pond to pick lotus leaves and then gathered to peel the lotus seeds right at the temple pond, dividing them evenly, each family got a little, very warm.

Nowadays, Hoang Tru grows a lot of lotus, but the lotus pond of the old pagoda still has villagers gathered together every lotus season, people still gather on moonlit nights to listen to folk songs, fabric songs, and enjoy the fragrant lotus scent. Mr. Ty said: "In my hometown, from the past until now, lotus is planted for beauty, if a passerby likes to pick it, no one will blame them, and no one will voluntarily go down to the lake to pick lotus, they just stop to take pictures of the lotus pond. Hoang Tru people cook lotus leaves and flowers all year round to drink. Some cook lotus water to sell to tourists, they call it selling but they both sell and give it away, a cup of lotus water only costs 500 to 1,000 VND, just enough for cooking and firewood, mainly for fun. Drinking lotus leaf water, lotus flowers or lotus mirror water is cool to the liver, good for sleep, so everyone likes it."

The most popular is still a bowl of lotus sweet soup, every time lotus season comes. Every family cooks lotus sweet soup to invite each other. No matter how much the lotus seeds sell for, people still treat themselves first. Every few days, every family cooks a pot of lotus sweet soup mixed with green-heart black beans and country sticky rice. No longer as poor as before, lotus sweet soup is bland and sweet, mainly cooked with brown sugar. Now life is better, people cook lotus sweet soup with sticky rice flour, white sugar, green beans, a bowl of lotus sweet soup is very attractive and beautiful. The cooking method is also simple.

For fresh lotus seeds, just boil for about 10 minutes. When the lotus seeds are soft, add sugar to the pot of water, continue to simmer for about 5 minutes so that the lotus seeds absorb the sugar. The cooked mung beans and dough are soft, scoop the lotus seed pudding into a bowl, add some grapefruit flowers, and you have an attractive, delicious bowl of lotus seed pudding. Although Mr. Ty and his wife are old, every lotus season, they still cook lotus seed pudding every day and invite the neighbors to eat together. Mr. Ty said: "My hometown is more beautiful, warmer, and closer thanks to the bowl of lotus seed pudding, the fragrant lotus flowers in the lake, and this simple cup of lotus leaf and lotus flower water...".

Surely many people have a childhood attached to lotus or have some memories associated with this name, then come to Hoang Tru to enjoy a bowl of lotus leaf and lotus flower water cooked by Mr. and Mrs. Ty, you will feel the sweet and familiar flavor of the past. As for me, every time lotus season comes, I go back to Uncle Ho's hometown, our common hometown. I will definitely see my grandmother's thin figure again!

Thu Huong