Stir-fried Treehead Vegetable with Ham

Stir-fried Treehead Vegetable with Ham

　　Treehead vegetable is a wild plant grown in the mountainous areas of Yangbi, Yongping, Yunlong, and Heqing counties in Dali Prefecture. Shaped like Chinese toon, it is the umbrella-like tender tip of a thorny vine tree—plump, tender, and usually harvested in spring. The cooking method for stir-fried treehead vegetable with ham is simple. First, blanch the treehead vegetable in boiling water to remove its bitterness, then rinse and chop it before stir-frying with ham and eggs. The dish has a delicious, aromatic flavor with a slight bitterness, and offers health benefits such as clearing heat and detoxifying. (Dali)