Paco Fern with Oyster Sauce Iron Boosting

Healthy Food

Paco Fern with Oyster Sauce Iron Boosting

Story

Vegetable fern is a type of plant that belongs to the fern family which can be used to cook. In addition to food, it can be used as an herb as well. Vegetable fern usually grows along riversides or wetlands than in the dense forest or areas that are fertile. It’s often found during the rainy season spreading all over Asia and Oceania. In addition, it is also an indicator of the environment that shows where the weather is bad, has impure soil with high level of chemicals in it. If it is so, the fern will not grow or sprout in that area.

Paco Fern is a type of edible fern which grows in wetlands and on riverbanks and is common during rainy season all over Asia and Oceania. It is also an environmental indicator; if an area has an unstable climate or impure soil, the Paco Fern simply won’t grow there. The plant is also rich in properties that are beneficial to our bodies and people have been known to harness these benefits in different ways and with different methods of cooking and preparation. It can be stir-fried with oyster sauce, added to Gang Liang or Tom Som curries, boiled or even dipped in southern chili paste or ‘budu’ sauce.

Health Benefits

‘Paco Fern with Oyster Sauce Iron Boosting’ is a stir-fried dish. Pick out the leaves or soft parts and fry them in heated oil in a pan with garlic and season well with oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, or MSG Besides being easy to make, paco fern is also easy to find, inexpensive, and has manifold medicinal properties.

‘Paco fern’ is high in iron which boosts the body’s immune system.*
‘Garlic’ enhances the innate and adaptive immunity.**
‘Onion’ relieves cold and cough symptoms.***
‘Chili’ helps relieve flu symptoms, reduce mucus and phlegm.*****
‘Pepper’: has anti-inflammatory effects and antioxidants.*****

Ingredients

paco fern 100 gr
garlic 20 gr
sliced chili 5 gr
oyster sauce 15 gr
soy sauce 5 gr
fish sauce 5 gr
sugar 10 gr
white pepper 1 gr
chicken stock 30 gr
vegetables oil 25 gr
onion 15 gr

Directions

Blanch the paco fern in boiling water until soft.

Heat a small amount of oil in a pan and saute the garlic and chili until they release an aroma.

Add the paco fern and onion to the pan and combine. Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar to flavour.

Combine ingredients until consistent and serve.

Reference
* Hamilton, Richart (2015). Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia 2015 Deluxe Lab-Coat Edition. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 217. ISBN 9781284057560.
** Moutia M, et al. Review Article In Vitro and In Vivo Immunomodulatory Activities of Allium sativum L. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2018; Article ID 4984659.https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4984659
*** Bakhru HK. Healing through natural foods. 16. Mumbai: Jaico; 2015.
**** Vonne D., Ofelia G., Guillermo O., José P., & Tzayhrí G. (2014). Determination of Capsaicin, Ascorbic Acid, Total Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Capsicum annuum L. var. serrano by Mid Infrared Spectroscopy (Mid-FTIR) and Chemometric Analysis. Journal of the Korean Society for Applied Biological Chemistry, 57(1): 133-142.
***** Tasleem F, Azhar I, Ali SN, Perveen S, Mahmood ZA. Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of Piper nigrum L. Asian Pacific journal of tropical medicine. 2014;7(Suppl 1):S461-S468.