Not so long ago, we discovered an edible fern during our many visits to the wet market. In fact, I blogged about it before here. There are so many ways to prepare such. Blanching is one common way to prepare it or you can cook the young leaves in coconut cream.
Last Saturday, we chanced upon fresh leaves in the market. I made it into a veggie salad by adding julienned white onions, ginger, tomatoes and ground pork. I blanched it first with hot water then added the ingredients together with the ground pork later. It tasted so good.
It is locally known as pako. It is not grown as vegetable but grows in the wild. Not all ferns are edible though so one should be familiar with it. It is a perfect side dish for grilled fish or pork.
Every spring here in New England, we have something called “fiddlehead ferns”. They sell for up to 8 dollars a pound at the store, yet I walk past them every morning in the fields around my house! I love how fresh, local, delicious and silly they are!
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Try it sometime. It’s delicious. There are ferns though that are poisonous so be careful.
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Looks wonderful, Arlene. I love eating food I find in the wild. But you’re right to be cautious and learn what you’re doing. Enjoy!
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Thank you Diana 🙂
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I don’t think I have ever seen an edible fern, Arlene. Very interesting.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Maybe it doesn’t grow there Pete.
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I looove pako specially with tomatoes amd bagoong. Yuuum
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Ang sarap di ba?
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super sarap!!!
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One day on a hike I ran into a very old woman gathering edibles in the woods. I stopped to talk and learned that during the war she had been in Poland and had to eat what she could scavenge. She was very careful and informed about ferns and mushrooms, too.
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Not all ferns and mushrooms can be eaten. Some are poisonous. But those that are edible are simply yummy.
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We get fiddlehead ferns here in the spring. I never thought of adding them to a curry. I’ll have to try it sometime. The salad looks delicious! 😋
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Thanks Sabine. I never tried adding it to curry. We just prepare it as salad or cooked in coconut cream.
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Ah. I’ll have to google it! 😉
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🙂
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