食材介紹：𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑒 海蘆筍/海蓬子    Samphire, also known as sea asparagus, has become a popular (hopefully not trendy...) cooking ingredient in the UK recently. I have always been intrigued by this quirky looking vegetable, quietly sitting with the fish, shrimps and mussels on ice at the seafood counter; is it veg or a kind of seaweed?  As a curious anthropology of food graduate, it took me too long to try this amazing veg. Finally, almost four years after I moved to London, I grabbed a box of samphire for my kitchen.  Samphire is not seaweed but a native succulent (according to the internet). It grows very close to the sea, so tastes naturally salty (what great news!). In order to keep the original flavour, I chose to simply stir-fry the samphire with garlic.  Now samphire is one of my favourites vegetables. It is crunchy but tender, savoury but mild. I love its wacky look and how easy it is to prepare.   May to August is the season for samphire in the UK. Hope you don't miss the chance to try it!    五月真的是英國豐收的季節，暨接骨木與蘆筍之後，今天再來跟大家介紹一種五月盛產的蔬菜：samphire。  Samphire中文又叫海蘆筍或海蓬子，是一種生產在海邊的多肉植物 ，與蘆筍沒什麼關係。海蘆筍的長相非常特別，看到一次就讓人印象深刻，像是翠綠的珊瑚，或是細小纖細的鳥骨頭。  samphire主要有兩種種類，一種是marsh samphire, 一種是rock samphire. marsh samphire比較常見，口感爽脆略帶海味，至於rock samphire則有更強烈的胡蘿蔔風味，適合放一點在沙拉裡增加味道層次。  samphire以前是只有住海邊的人才知道的食材，但近幾年在英國幾位大廚的推廣下，在英國的超市與漁貨店都很好購得。通常被視為海鮮一員跟魚蝦貝一起擺在海鮮櫃檯裡。  由於生長在海邊因此自帶鹹味，料理上不用額外加鹽就自然有味道，是非常方便好用的食材。如果你很幸運剛好住海邊，遇上海蘆筍產季還可以帶著桶子尋找岸邊石頭縫隙中長出來的海蘆筍，更添樂趣。  既然海蘆筍與海的關係深遠，烹飪上理所當然地適合與海鮮一起烹煮。不過手邊若無海鮮，直接大蒜清炒就很好吃。大蒜辣椒大火快炒2分鐘，samphire吃起來就像是空心菜加上水蓮，是相見恨晚沒常買的蔬菜。  處理剛買來的海蘆筍很簡單，稍微洗淨，把枝條拆成小段，若有大根的老莖建議切除口感較佳。不想快炒也可白灼、清蒸或裹上麵衣油炸。烹調時間不要超過5分種以免口感軟爛。  英國海蘆筍的產季是五月中到八月，鹹鹹鮮鮮口感與充滿海濱風情的英國夏日很搭配。我另外查了一下海蘆筍的中文資料，發現全聯與幾個小農市集前幾年也有把這蔬菜引進台灣，如果大家有看到不妨買回家吃吃看。   附註：不重要的英文小教室之sapphire是藍寶石，與今日主角samphire海蘆筍很容易搞混（還是只有我？）     #samphire #seasonalfood #eattheseason #ukfood #eatseasonal #veganrecipes #無痛素食 #海蘆筍 #英國食材 #異國食材 #英國食物 #海蓬子 #特殊食材 #英國美食 #食物攝影 #炒菜 #家常菜 #mayfood #summerfood #英國四季吃什麼