Fern Salad

Fern can be eaten raw or cooked as in omelets.

In Manila, you seldom find fern being sold in the public market. I’ve seen them being hawked on rare occasions in the public market of Pasay City but that is about once in a blue moon. Little wonder why Manilans don’t include fern in their regular diet as opposed to say, alugbati wich is also another of the greens that is considered odd in the metro but has gained a respectable amount of use.

In the markets of Southern Tagalog though, they are common place. You don’t even have to buy it if you live in the far reaches of the town especially in barrios near a river or any body of fresh water. They dominate the landscape.

Fern adorns many a flower arrangements but I like them best eaten.

While urban dwellers consider fern as decorative, rural folks prize them for its edibility. They would normally make an omelet of it as one would with tomatoes and potatoes. Not all kinds of fern are edible though. So if you are not familiar with which fern can be safe to eat, it’s best to buy the fern instead than to pick them up yourself.

I don’t know of its nutritive value but I guess it’s safe to say that it’s got substantial nutrients like any other greens. And being a green, it’s best prepared the salad way. I would describew the taste as a cross between lettuce and kangkong. It's refreshing in the mouth and there's a distinct lightness to it no matter how much you eat. And its crisp, too!

The most common version of a fern salad is fern tops combined with slivers of tomatoes and onions then topped with salted egg with vinegar dressing.

Fern Salad with Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

1 bunch fern tops, stalks removed, washed and patted dry

3 medium tomatoes, slivered

1 medium white onion, slivered

1 ripe mango, diced

4 pcs calamansi

1 tbsp corn oil

½ tsp sugar

Salt and pepper

Roasted Chicken (optional)

Combine fern tops, tomatoes, onions and diced mangoes in a salad bowl. In a mixing bowl, mix together corn oil, the juice of 4 calamansi, salt, pepper and ½ tsp sugar with a whisk.

Drizzle the vinaigrette on the mixed vegetables and chill for about 15 minutes before serving. Serve with roasted chicken or pork chops for a more substantial meal.

Then, I went a little over the top by adding green mangoes, too!

Over the top! Fern can blend in mixed greens salads or it can stand on its own.