What is "morning glory"used in Thai cooking?Looks like long stems of thick grass.?

Ipomoea aquatica:





"Morning Glory" or Phak Boong in Thai is a semi-aquatic tropical plant grown as a leaf vegetable. Its precise natural distribution is unknown due to extensive cultivation, with the species found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world.





Ipomoea aquatica grows in water or on moist soil. Its stems are 2-3 m or more long, hollow, allowing them to float, and these root at the nodes. The leaves vary from sagittate (typical) to lanceolate, 5-15 cm long and 2-8 cm broad. The flowers are trumpet-shaped, 3-5 cm diameter, usually white in colour.





In Thailand it is frequently stir fried with oyster sauce and shrimp paste. It can be eaten raw with Lao green papaya salad.

What is "morning glory"used in Thai cooking?Looks like long stems of thick grass.?
There are two kinds of morning glory: Chinese and Thai. A stalk and leaves of Chinese morning glory are green while those of Thai morning glory green mixed with reddish brown color. The Chinese morning glory is also bigger than the Thai one. Chinese-Thais stir fry it with pork and soy bean paste. Thais do the same but put garlic and hot chili into the dish. The Thai morning glory are eaten raw with any kind of chili paste and Thais' favorite dish, "Som-tam" (papaya salad). It can also be put in curry.

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