Vegetable dish at Ng Ah Sio Pork Rib Eating House 黄亞細肉骨茶餐室

Ng Ah Sioの肉骨茶屋へ行くと必ず、店員さんからがベジタブールとシンガポールアクセントで
必ず進められる一品がある。いつも頼むのだが実際なんの野菜かというのを不覚にも訊いた事がなかった。今回はじめてなんの野菜かをきいてみたところ、これはTurng-wo（トゥンクゥォ）筒蒿という野菜だそうだが、空心菜やカイランのようにどこにでも買える野菜ではない。味は本当に目隠しで食べたら、クセのないマイルドな春菊のような味と食感。あっさりした豚の出汁で程よくゆでられた、まちがいなく筒蒿は旨い。マーケットで筒蒿をやっとの思いで発見したが、葉は春菊よりもヒラヒラの部分が丸くなっている。外見は少しルッコラに似ているかもしれない。

Whenever I visit Ng Ah Sio at Rangoon Rd. for a bowl of bak kut teh, the staff always always, ask everyone for a vegetable or a mushroom dish.  And I usually end up ordering either or both of the dishes.  I know that the mushroom served there is a type of young shiitake mushroom but I have always wondered what the vegetable was.  Until now, I have never asked them what vegetable they were using.  Apparently, the vegetable is turng-wo(筒蒿）which in Singapore I have never come across.  I went to the market but not all the stalls sell this vegetable like kailan or kangkong.  The flavor is somewhat herbal (perhaps I could call this an asian arugula) and in Japan, we have a very similar tasting vegetable known as shungiku (used for tempura, hotpots and sukiyaki).