Protect-the-Nation Vegetable

Protect-the-Nation Vegetable

　　“Protect-the-Nation Vegetable” is a renowned dish from Chaozhou. The legend goes that in 1278 AD, the last emperor of the Song Dynasty fled to Chaozhou and stayed in a secluded mountain temple. Upon learning that he was the Song emperor, the monks showed him great respect. Noticing his exhaustion and hunger, they picked some fresh sweet potato leaves from their field, removed the bitter ones, and made them into a soup dish. The young emperor, famished and thirsty, found the dish vibrant green, fragrant, soft, smooth, and delicious. After eating, he found it extremely refreshing and praised it highly. Moved by the monks’ efforts to protect him and preserve the Song Dynasty—preparing this dish despite having no rice or vegetables—the emperor was deeply touched and named the dish “Protect-the-Nation Vegetable.” It has been passed down to this day. Nowadays, many restaurants in Guangzhou and the Chaozhou area serve this dish.

　　Protect-the-Nation vegetarian dish is one of the celebrated dishes of Chaozhou cuisine. The story behind Protect-the-Nation Vegetable carries a historical anecdote. It is said that in the late Southern Song Dynasty, when the Yuan army invaded the south in full force, the young emperor Zhao Bing suffered a defeat and fled from Fuzhou to Chaoshan in Guangdong. He stayed in an abandoned mountain temple with Lu Xiufu and others. The temple monks hurriedly welcomed them. However, due to the chaos of war, the temple had few visitors and not only lacked vegetarian dishes, but even common greens were unavailable. The abbot, seeing that the emperor was just a child and pitiful, took pity on him and asked young monks to quietly pick some wild greens. They blanched the greens in boiling water to remove the bitterness, then chopped them finely to disguise their origin, as the greens were typically used to feed pigs. At that moment, the starving emperor didn’t care about the source—he found the green, fragrant, soft, and savory soup delicious and ate it with gusto. After finishing, he asked the abbot the name of the dish. The abbot replied, “Amitabha, this humble monk does not know the name of this soup, but I hope it can relieve Your Majesty’s hardship, restore military morale, and safeguard the safety of the Song Dynasty.” Deeply moved by these words, the young emperor proclaimed, “Then let its name be ‘Protect-the-Nation Vegetable.’” Later, the dish gradually spread. Through generations of chefs refining and improving its preparation and ingredients, it became one of the signature dishes of Chaoshan cuisine.

　　 Today, Protect-the-Nation Vegetable has evolved from using wild vegetable leaves to incorporating sweet potato leaves, water spinach leaves, junda leaves (thickleaf gynura), amaranth leaves, and spinach leaves. Its preparation has also expanded from purely vegetarian to include meat-infused vegetarian cooking.

　　 There are two main cooking methods. The traditional method uses sweet potato leaves or the other mentioned greens, which are processed and then added to premium broth, ham, and dried straw mushrooms. The leaves are chopped finely, resulting in a dish that is vibrant green, tender, flavorful, and rich with umami. The newer, improved method involves blending processed sweet potato leaves into a smooth purée using a food processor, then mixing it with premium broth and chicken oil. This version features a bright, translucent green color, a silky texture, rich flavor, and is meaty in taste without visible meat pieces.

　　 Making Protect-the-Nation Vegetable is quite labor-intensive. ... First, when preparing the sweet potato leaves, the leaf veins must be removed before blanching them in alkaline water. Then, they are rinsed several times with cold water to enhance their green color and eliminate any bitterness. The next step is flavor infusion, which involves using premium broth. What is premium broth? It is made by simmering chicken, pork ribs, pig’s feet, ham, and luohanguo (monk fruit) in water over low heat for over ten hours, yielding a clear, aromatic, and richly flavored broth. This broth is widely used in making Chaozhou cuisine, essential for high-end dishes like shark fin and abalone.

　　 The standout feature of Chaozhou vegetarian dishes is that they often use raw materials—typically vegetables with inherent bitterness or blandness. To elevate the dish, chefs bring out the best in these ingredients by ensuring that “what has flavor releases it, and what lacks flavor absorbs it.” “What has flavor releases it” refers to removing the bitterness and impurities through preparation. “What lacks flavor absorbs it” means infusing the vegetables during cooking with rich, meaty premium broth—or adding animal-based ingredients like old chicken, pork ribs, lean meat, or pig’s feet. These infuse the vegetables with a savory depth, blending the umami of meat and the freshness of vegetables into a complex, refined flavor that is truly exquisite.

　　 In 1962, Marshal He Long visited Shantou for national defense inspections and dined at Shantou Mansion. Upon tasting the Protect-the-Nation vegetarian dish, he praised it highly. However, during the Cultural Revolution, the dish was criticized as part of the "feudal, capitalist, and revisionist" elements and was banned.

　　 After the reform and opening-up, traditional Chaozhou dishes were revived and promoted. Protect-the-Nation Vegetable also gained widespread popularity in Southeast Asian countries. During Chaozhou food festivals held in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, it became a must-order dish for locals, the Chinese diaspora, and international visitors alike.