This green leafy herb goes by many names and is native to Central America. But it is now grown and eaten throughout Southeast Asia and Latin America. In many larger cities of the U.S., you can find these at the ethnic markets.
The three most common name is Sawtooth coriander (since the edges have little harmless serrated teeth). Another is Mexican coriander or culantro. In Lao and Thai it’s call “Pak Chi Farang”. Scientific name: Eryngium foetidum.
Some say the taste resembles coriander, but I think it taste much more interesting. More like fennel, Asian cilantro and other herbs too. So it’s more like multiple herbs combined in one crispy green leaf. It’s also very fragrant.
And tends to make soups (especially Pho) become more lively and tasty too. The younger leaves are the best, but the bigger leaves are also tasty.
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When I think of cinnamon, I usually think of cinnamon rolls rather then the actual spice. But this winter, I’m starting to think of cinnamon with much more appreciation. As cinnamon is not only tasty, but very beneficial for your health too.
Cinnamon cassia also known as Chinese cinnamon. Image source.
Cinnamon is native to India. The three commercially cultivated cinnamon include Ceylon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), Indonesian (Cinnamomum burmanii), and Chinese cassia (Cinnamomum cassia). Many of the commercial cultivation of cinnamon are cassia. Countries that process cinnamon include India, China, Vietnam, Madagascar and Sri Lanka.
This is what a Ceylon cinnamon tree looks like: it can grow up to 15 meters high. Photo from Pukka Herbs.
The harvesting of cinnamon is an interesting process. Cinnamon barks are harvested by cutting back two year old trees. When the tree stems are chopped, new stem start to sprout around it. The process is call coppicing. Then new stems can be harvested and the inner bark extracted for use. That is what you see as the curled cinnamon sticks.
Cinnamon is usually sold in powder form or as cinnamon sticks (quills). The cinnamon commonly found in the market is cassia, which is Chinese cinnamon. It’s difficult to tell between true cinnamon.
The sweet aroma is really what makes cinnamon special. It just reminds you of the holiday and can warm you up from the inside out. This special aroma comes from the cinnamon barks, which has volatile essential oils.
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Since I was in the mood for agar agar dessert, I was happy to find some frozen pandan leaves at the Asian market for about $1. It would be nice to find some fresh ones, but they can only grow in tropical climates. The package was from Vietnam and read, “Bay Thoy Leaf”.
Nicely washed and cut pandan leaf. Photo from hsa*ba, Burmese cooking.
Pandan leaves have a very interesting scent. I can’t really describe, a bit herbal floral. And somewhat of a ripe banana too. But other have described as being rose like. Not only does it offer a fragrant scent, but it could be used as food coloring too. Some even use it to wrap their food for cooking. I just want to use them to make agar agar dessert.
I am starting to enjoy agar agar more then gelatin. Gelatin is a bit boring and it’s derived from the collagen inside animals’ skin and bones. Bad for vegetarians, but good for those that don’t mind animal collagen. Agar agar is derived from seaweed and has trace minerals and more.
I found some neat inspiration for making desserts using agar agar from Appon’s: Recipe from my native Thailand. Appon made this dessert with mashed pumpkin and pandan flavor agar agar. Since I am a fan of pumpkin pie, I think this would taste great. Photo from Appon.
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This is my “how to guide” to preparing Globe artichokes. For those that may want to eat them, but just not sure how or where to start. Just don’t let the spikes and rough leaves (petals) scare you.
Above is my photo gallery tutorial on how to prepare Globe artichoke. And don’t worry, you won’t choke on anything when eating them. Unless of course you become distracted and forget to chew and swallow properly. Enjoy!
Instructions:
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Hibiscus flowers usually remind me of tropical places such as Hawaii. They are popular ingredients in herbal tea as it gives off the nice red color. These interesting looking hibiscus flowers are not the typical hibiscus grown as ornamental plants.
They are named roselle or “Hibiscus sabdariffa” and are edible. Roselle are an annual woody shrub that grows to 2–2.5 m tall. This plant is mainly grown in Southeast Asia and Central America.
They may look strange to someone who has never seen them before. The calyx are left over after the petals have fallen off. What you see (pictured above) is these deep red bulb like blooms.
Germany uses it as natural food color and France likes it dipped in syrup. They are also popular made into sauces, syrups, and jams. They even have medicinal values and is also full of Vitamin C, Iron, Calcium and Niacin.
These dried Roselle I found at Trader Joe’s are also dipped in syrup. I have tried dried dragon fruit from Trader Joe’s and love them! So I just had to give these a try too. The texture is like dried fruit rolled up but more bland and chewy. It’s slightly tart and sweet (from the syrup). But I do think they taste better then dried cranberries.
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There are these lush green vines that I have seen from many pictures and movies coming from the southeastern United States. They even have pretty purple flowers too. The plants are usually seen growing endlessly along highways and forests. What is the name of this interesting plant? It is kudzu ( scientific name: pueraria lobata), a Japanese native plant that has been labeled as “invasive” and is taking over the native plants of the area.
Purdue University’s Photo of the nice kudzu with pretty purple flowers.
The plant first came to the US as an ornamental plant in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Then in 1935 to 1953, farmers in the South were encouraged by the United States to plant kudzu to reduce soil erosion. But in was declared as invasive by the US government by the mid 1950’s. The southeastern US has hot, humid summers, frequent rainfall, temperate winters and few hard freezes. So the conditions are almost perfect for the kudzus to keep on growing. In some ways, the plant reminds me of the end of the world when the vines start to take over cities and towns.
Michael Jon Jensen, Director of Publishing Technologies of the National Academies Press took this picture of kudzus taking over this abandoned Honda Civic. Looks like it is just in the edge of town too. Watch out!
But in Japan, they love to eat kudzu. Kudzu is high in fiber and protein and is a good source of vitamin A and D. The leaves and stems can be used as in salads and cook like other leafy vegetables. The roots are dried and then grounded to make powder. Kudzu powder is used in cooking to thicken soups and sauces. The flour is also used to coat food to be deep fried, such as tempura.
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