Vietnamese coriander, Spice
Vietnamese coriander (Persicaria odorata syn. Polygonum odoratum) is an herb in family Polygonaceae. It is used in Southeast Asian cooking. Vietnamese coriander is also known as Vietnamese mint, Vietnamese cilantro, Cambodian mint and hot mint, daun kesom or daun laksa in Malaysia and Singapore, and pak pai in Thailand. Vietnamese coriander is a perennial plant grows best in warm, sunny and damp conditions in Southeast Asia. It grows up to 15-30 cm tall. It is available througout the year. Vietnamese coriander is identified with Vietnamese cuisine, where the leaves are used fresh in salads and raw summer rolls, in soups and stews. It is also eaten together with boiled, fertilized duck eggs. In Malaysia and Singapore, Vietnamese coriander is an essential ingredient for making laksa, a popular spicy noodle soup from the Peranakan culture, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements, so much so that it is known locally as daun laksa. Vietnamese coriander has a bitter and spicy taste, and contains organic compunds, dodecanol (44%), decanal (28%) and decanol (11%).  Vietnamese coriander Author: Jean-Paul Bigand (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported) | ||
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