Thu Hà

Kudzu powder, locally known as bột sắn dây, is widely used by Vietnamese people as a healthy drink in summer to help with the heat — but it's also an ingredient in many delicious dishes as well as a medicine used to enhance general health, according to the former head of the Central Military Hospital 108’s Traditional Medicine Department Dr Hoàng Khánh Toàn.

Sắn dây plants are easy to grow, as they need less care to cultivate than many other species. This is why most rural households grow it for daily use and sale, the doctor said. 

Locals often drink a cup of kudzu powder mixed with water to cool off in summer. — Photo hasaki.vn

My parents used a corner of our garden to grow kudzu plants. After the traditional Tết (Lunar New Year holiday), they harvested and processed it into powder to make drinks like kudzu mixed with boiled water and sugar to help cool off in summer. They also boiled kudzu roots to cook porridge with lotus and used kudzu powder to make many different cakes, including pig skin cake, or bánh da lợn, which has recently been highlighted in a list of the 100 Most Popular Cakes in the world by popular cuisine website TasteAtlas.

I remember that my mother often used to choose several of the biggest kudzu roots, clean them well, cut them into small pieces and boil them over a fire for 20-25 minutes. The boiled kudzu roots have a natural sweet flavour and characteristic fragrance, but they shouldn't be eaten hot.

“It’s more enjoyable to eat it cool,” my mother told us.

Kudzu powder should be dried under sunlight to be of high quality. — Photo dacsanthanhphuong.vn

We used to sit around a basket to wait for the kudzu roots to cool. My mother would cut them into small pieces, telling us to chew slowly to enjoy the flavour, and particularly the softness as it melted in our mouths. We really loved eating it.

Along with boiled kudzu roots, she also cooked deep-fried corn maize with kudzu powder. There were only three ingredients: sweetcorn, chicken eggs and fine sieved kudzu powder, plus oil for cooking.

To make them, you have to separate the corn kernels, sieve the kudzu powder and whip the chicken eggs well. All three ingredients are mixed together. Pour cooking oil in a pan and heat it up for a while, then put the mixture in the pan and quickly stir it for several minutes. Finally, take it out of the pan and put on a plate covered with an oil absorbent paper to cool.

Kudzu powder can be used to cook many dishes, including desserts like cakes. — Photo sanday.com.vn

The dish is best enjoyed dipped in chilli sauce.

Although my mother didn't do this, my neighbours often cooked black bean porridge with kudzu powder, and also added the powder to green beans and rice soup.

Kudzu powder is an ideal ingredient to make cakes like pig skin cake and many others, according to one of my neighbours. My neighbour gave me their recipe for kudzu powder porridge with green beans, a very popular summer dish.

To make it, you need 100 grammes of green beans, two coffee spoons of kudzu powder, sugar and coconut juice, as well as a small bowl and several drops of vanilla extract.

First, soak the green beans in warm water for 30 minutes, then pour them into a pot with water and cook for 20 minutes. After that, add the sugar and keep stirring the mixture. The last step is to mix the kudzu powder in a bowl with water and stir it well, before pouring it into the pot while continuing to stir. Cook this down for five minutes until done.

The porridge is even more tasty mixed with ice, my neighbour said.

A lot of rural households plant kudzu vines to make powder out of their roots. — Photo eva.vn

Dr Toàn said that with a high natural carbohydrate content, kudzu powder is good for those looking to reduce their weight, as well as for patients with diabetes and/or high cholesterol, because it contains less protein, sugar, fat and calories than many other foods.

“In countries around the world, kudzu powder has been used to make flat breads, cakes and cookies,” he said.

Kudzu powder is also a valuable medicine to help with summer ailments including heat-related illnesses, fever, cough and itchy rash. It can also stimulate digestion, Dr Toàn said. — VNS