Moss and fairy tales about a specialty

(Baonghean) -Recently, people have praised the moss of the Thai people in the highlands as being able to help them live longer. This is not clear whether it is true or not, only that this plant only likes clean rivers and streams, clear and fast-flowing water, and a clean environment. When autumn comes, usually the 9th lunar month, the weather is cool, the cold has returned to the river surface. The rice in the fields is gradually becoming full of grain. That is when moss begins to grow green on the rocks, under the riverbed.

Thai people living along the river are no stranger to moss, most of them love it. Every moss season, women and mothers gather together to bring baskets to the river to collect and process into dishes. Everyone wants to take advantage of the opportunity to collect the first moss of the season, still green and delicious. In the fall, the river water is the clearest of the year, and the moss is green and clean without any sand. Moss is used as a vegetable, people bring it home, wash it and steam it with a sticky rice cooker.

* Thai people in the upper reaches of the Giang River collect moss from rocks.
* Processing moss (documentary photo).

The Thai people call moss "cay nam", a play on words, this vegetable dish is as delicious as chicken. Moss is so familiar that there is a fairy tale passed down in village communities... In a meeting of the chiefs, while sitting together at the dinner table, one told his long-lost friend that his family had the most beautiful daughter in the village who wanted to marry his best friend. Luckily, the other chief also had a son who was just old enough to choose a wife. The two sides agreed to become in-laws. The chief returned home and let his son cross the forest and stream to the next village to live with his wife, because Thai people usually stay with their husbands for 3 years before they can bring their wives home.

The young man had been living with his wife for five years, and still had not seen his wife's daughter. He was discouraged and asked to go home. His "father-in-law" tried to stop him and coax him, but to no avail. He put a bamboo box in a basket for him to carry home, and did not forget to say: "No matter how heavy the basket is, try to get home until you get to your room and then open the box. There will be a surprise for you, son-in-law."

He carried the basket on his back and felt the wooden box inside the basket getting heavier and heavier. He thought to himself: "Maybe it's because I'm tired that it feels heavy." But when the sun was at its zenith, he noticed that the basket was no longer a basket but seemed to contain a squash. Remembering his father-in-law's instructions, he did not stop. The sun set behind the mountain, and he saw his familiar village on the other side of the mountain. At this moment, he felt like he was carrying a person on his back, so he stopped to rest. He wondered why the bamboo box had become so heavy, so he opened the lid. Then, from inside the bamboo box, a girl stepped out, suddenly as big as a normal person. The girl's beauty fascinated him. When he had calmed down, he cut down the fig tree, stripped its bark, and wove a hammock for his wife to sit and wait for while he returned to call his family to prepare to beat gongs and drums to go pick up the bride.

In the forest, there was a man-eating orangutan who came to the stream to drink water. Seeing the shadow of a girl reflected in the stream, the orangutan dived down and searched for a long time but could not find her. The girl laughed heartily. Hearing her laughter, the orangutan climbed up a tree, swallowed the girl, then transformed into another girl and sat in the hammock.

The young man went to pick up his wife and knew everything, still silently welcomed the orangutan home to slaughter pigs and buffalos to celebrate as usual and thought of a way to save his wife. After 7 days of staying at home according to the Thai people's taboo, the "wife" took a basin and went down to the stream to wash clothes. The young man immediately took a sword and a magic stick, put them in a rice-washing pipe and followed them down to the stream, then killed the orangutan. After that, he used the magic stick to bring his wife back to life. The couple met again and were extremely happy. The young man took pity on her and prayed to the gods to turn the orangutan's head and bones into pebbles at the bottom of the stream, its flesh into wild mushrooms, its blood into stream fish, and the orangutan's hair into moss. Later, when his wife died, the young man went to the stream to cry, and when she died, she turned into stream rocks. The gods took pity on her and turned the hair of the faithful couple into moss...

The Thai people in Mon village (Thach Giam - Tuong Duong), one of the villages at the source of Lam river, believe that the loving couple left this world on an early autumn day to create the moss season. The villagers living near the river will know the moss season first. In the morning, before going to the fields, the women in the village carry baskets to the rapids to collect moss, bring it back and wash it thoroughly to remove the sand, then dry it in the sun before going to the fields. Before going to the fields, the mothers and sisters do not forget to soak half a bowl of rice to pound it into a smooth paste and mix it with moss in the afternoon.

After finishing work and returning home, the women put down their baskets and prepare to prepare the moss dish. To have a dish with moss, it requires meticulousness and takes a lot of time. The moss is dried from morning to afternoon, then put down in drains, washed again, then pounded or chopped finely in a mortar. The soaked rice is pounded and mixed well with the moss. Next, prepare the spices and dong leaves or banana leaves. The spices include fish sauce, salt, chili, garlic, lemongrass, MSG, lard or cooking oil... Among the spices, the "mac khen" seed is indispensable. According to the Mon people, if "mac khen" is missing, the moss dish will not be complete.

The spices are mixed well with the crushed moss, then wrapped in dong leaves or banana leaves. Now comes the step of cooking the moss. The moss packages are placed in a wooden side and placed on a steamer. At this point, just heat it evenly, until white smoke rises from the wooden side and the aroma of cooked moss spreads in the air, then the moss dish is ready. The side is taken down, the cooked moss packages are displayed on a tray or basket. If the moss dish is prepared carefully and according to the correct procedure, when opened, the moss will have a very beautiful green color.

Usually, a family of 4-6 people cannot finish a full package of moss. They share it with the neighboring families. It is also an opportunity to show the close friendship and harmony in the community. Family meals with moss are often more fun than usual. The storyteller's childhood memories still clearly retain dinners with moss. Father seemed less tired after returning from trips to the forest. Mother's eyes still sparkled with joy, although every time she had a meal of moss, it took her many hours from the time she returned from the mountains until the moss was cooked. Moss eaten with sticky rice is a childhood dish for many people in the highlands, now only in memory.

In the past, when the Lam River’s source had not yet been dammed for hydroelectric power, and there was no booming sound of gold prospecting machines digging into the riverbed, picking moss was still easy. The river now has much less water, and in many places people can easily wade from one side to the other. The river water is dirty and no longer flows as fast as before, so moss cannot survive. And gradually, people will forget about moss.

One afternoon six months ago, the narrator found a green plastic bag in the fishmonger's cargo box. He picked it up and realized it was moss. She said that her husband had gone to the Giang River, nearly 40km from home, to find moss. She tried to sell it to the villagers and found that people really liked it. So the moss dish has now become a commodity. The important thing is that the flavor of childhood has not disappeared. At least at the source of the Giang River (Mon Son commune - Con Cuong), moss is still there. Tourists from far away, those who are still unfamiliar with this dish, can come back and enjoy it when Autumn comes...

Article and photos: Huu Vi