(What's The Story) Morning Glory

Often times in Asia, a man eats what a man gets. This is true, first off, because often times in Asia and elsewhere, a man is hungry. But a man also comes to realize that most of the time in Asia, whatever the fuck it is he's eating is delicious, despite being comprised of ingredients that would ordinarily make him retch. The fact is that poverty and necessity have conspired to make the chefs of the Asia world particularly skilled at making very little go a long, long way.

But this is not the case for Ipomoea aquatica, or morning glory, as it is known through the continent. Banned in the United States under the USDA's noxious weed regulations due to its invasive tendencies, morning glory is one of the few items I encountered on my trip that made me wonder why the hell people haven't figured out how to get some here.

It took me a while to figure out exactly what it was that I was eating. Every few meals, I would puzzle over a plate of greens that resembled, at various times, spinach, kale, broccoli rabe, and even garlic scapes. When cooked, the long stem of the morning glory curls like a scape, but it still retains its thin, withered leaf on top, making it look like one of the more common cooked greens listed above. Ipomoea aquatica is indeed a member of the family Convolvulaceae, which includes all other plants that are commonly known as "morning glory," e.g. those that produce flower and the hallucinogenic seeds (sadly, the culinary variety does not possess this latter trait). The taste is equally confusing: it starts with a bitter bite, like rabe, which quickly subsides into a pleasant sweetness that I had never really encountered before. It took the help of a friendly Chinese man to help me solve the riddle of what I had been eating for the past few weeks.

This particularly plate of morning glory (from Laos) deviates slightly from the norm in that it contains tofu. But it still abides by the most important rules: usually, the plant is fried in oil, garlic, and oyster sauce, and often garnished with tiny fried onions (similar to the French's variety you can buy in the supermarket). The result is a rich and sumptuous plate, nutritious and delightful, and one that cannot be missed on your next trip to SE Asia (literally cannot be missed, because they serve it at more or less every fucking meal).