Veggie tea (as I call it), Zuag Tsuag is a dish of plain boiled vegetable. Zuab tsuag literally means bland vegetable in Hmong. It can be served hot or cold. It’s a very simple side dish that also serves as a beverage for a meal. For me, it’s like the diet coke to my greasy burger.
My husband was making BBQ chicken one night, and not wanting to bother him in the kitchen, I requested that he make me some zuab tsuag out of cabbage. He’s seen me make it for myself before, but he always pass on helping himself to some.
My husband is usually cooking Japanese or Korean fusion foods for our dinner table, so I miss Hmong food a lot. (He can’t handle cilantro and most Southeast Asian herbs are too strong for his taste or smell.)
My husband was happy to be able to give me a little of the Hmong heart and soul when he placed that hot bowl of zuab tsuag in front of me. After a few bites of his scrumptious chicken dish, I dipped my spoon into the piping hot zuab tsuag to down the chicken. As I navigated the zuab tsuag into my mouth, my tongue was greeted by this most heinous taste of salt!
He asked me what was wrong because I had made a face. I told him that it has salt when it shouldn’t. His face was one of astonishment.
“So you guys eat it plain, with nothing?” he asked.
“Yes!” I confirmed to him.
He gave me this Chef Ramsey look as if what I just said is a chef’s food cooking taboo. I can see the wheels in his head spinning,”WTF!!!”
Note: After reading my post, he said that salt is put in to preserve the color of veggies when boiling them. I told him that I wasn’t planning on looking at the veggies, I was planning on eating them.
hmongloveskorean 