Water mimosa (Neptunia oleracea) — also called rau nhut or rau rút in Vietnamese, phak krachet in Thai, and kangkong-like water bean, sensitive neptunia or "kolomint" across South and Southeast Asia — is a floating aquatic legume whose tender young shoots and feathery leaves are eaten as a stem vegetable in Thai, Lao, Vietnamese and Cambodian cooking. Its stems ride on the water inside a spongy, cork-white float of aerenchyma, and like its sensitive-plant cousins the fern-like leaflets fold shut at a touch. Snapped young, the shoots are crisp, juicy and mild, faintly grassy and bean-like with a clean vegetal freshness; blanched or dropped into a sour soup they turn silky and slightly slippery while keeping a gentle bite, prized as much for that tender-crunchy texture as for flavour.