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.

If anyone would like to try growing them, Sand Mountain Herbs has seed packets available for $2.50 (50 seeds).

Recommended growing Zones 11-13 and needs hot and humid weather to grow well. I’m thinking Florida or Hawaii. If planting in full sun, they need lots of water. But the plants will also grow well in shade too. The key to encouraging more leafy growth is to nip out the flower buds once it starts to form. But keep some flower so you can save as seeds for next year’s harvest.

Besides being used for cooking, the sawtooth coriander is also used as herbal medicines. It also dried very well and can be saved for later use like many other herbs.

In Southeast Asian countries, the herb is useful for upper respiratory complaints to gastric upsets. In India, the root can be eaten raw for scorpion stings and is used to alleviate stomach pains.

I don’t think I’ve encounter any herb with so many names as this one. Here is part of the name list (source):

Culantro, spiny or serrated coriander, shado beni, bhandhania, chadron benee, coulante (Haiti), recao, fit weed, azier la fièvre, chardon étoilé, Puerto Rican coriander, shado benni, false coriander, shadow-beni, stinkweed, fitweed, long coriander, mexican coriander, ngo gai, spiritweed, bhandhania, false corriander, ketumbar Java, thorny coriander, long corriander, German Langer Koriander, Mexicanischer Koriander, Black Benny, Saw leaf herb, Saw tooth coriander, Spiny coriander, Fitweed, Chardon étoile fétide, Panicaut fétide, Herbe puante, Coriandre mexicain; Coulante, Hindi Bhandhania, Bhandhanya, Hosszú koriander, Mexikói koriander, Puerto Ricó-i koriander, Indonesian Walangan, Khmer Chi banla, Chi baraing, Chi sangkaech, Chi pa-la, Chi farang, Laotian Phak Hom thet, Malay Ketumbar Jawa, Spanish Culantro, Recao, Racao, Shado beni; Chadron benee, Alcapate, Cilantro habanero, Cilantro extranjero, Mexikansk koriander, Thai Pak chi farang, Hom-pomkula, Mae-lae-doe, Phakchi farang, Ngo gai, Mui tau, Ngo tay.

Grow Your Own Drugs: Easy Recipes for Natural Remedies and Beauty Fixes by James Wong.

In his book, James share many homemade and economical recipes for both health and beauty fixes.

James Wong likes to think of herbs as your very own pharmacy (although few would think this). As mentioned by Wong from The Times Online:

“The problem, Wong believes, is that there’s a big cultural dividing line between conventional medicine, which is thought of as effective, proven and serious, and herbal medicine, which has the reputation of being a bit flaky.”

James also goes to explain that up to 50 per cent of over-the-counter medicines are based on chemicals that are extracted from plants. Aspirin, though now synthetic, was originally derived from willow, meadowsweet and the shrub spirea. Morphine-based painkillers are based on opium from poppies. And the birth control pill was originally isolated from the Mexican wild yam. The World Health Organization estimates that 80 per cent of the world’s population still rely on plant-based medicine as their way of health care.

Traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda is also gaining more popularity in the west as more people look into alternative therapy.

Photo from .

Read the rest of this entry »

Ayurveda is a form of traditional medicine practiced in India. It has influenced other medicinal studies as well, such as Chinese medicines.

The Sanskrit word translated into English means “science of life.” Also can be translated as “wisdom or knowledge of life”. The type of medicine used consisted of herbs and spices as well as oils.

Amalaki fruit is used in Ayurvedic medicine.  It is used in making triphala.  High in Vitamin C (20 times more than citrus fruit) is sour and is considered good for inflammation of the stomach and intestines. Image source.

Ayurvedic philosophy emphasize that optimal health can be obtained when our physical, mental, and spiritual state is in harmony. In the west, Ayurveda has become a form of alternative therapy and also considered holistic (mind and body) treatment.

Determining your body type and your dosha is important in Ayurveda medicine. Knowing our dosha is useful because it increases awareness of our natural strengths and challenges. We can find out what health and wellness tips are useful based on our dosha.

The three active doshas are called Vata, Pitta and Kapha. You can take a short quiz at Chopra Center and find out.

It turns out that I am Dosha Vata. This part of Dosha Vata I can agree - “The cold quality of Vata may lead you to feel cold more easily than others around you, have cold hands and feet and crave warmth.”

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

My tea review for today is by Yogi Tea.  It’s made with licorice along with many other spices.  The name “Egyptian Licorice” does sound exotic and the ingredients seem interesting enough.  A bit of ginger root and cinnamon oil.

But personally I didn’t enjoy all those extra spice too much.  I  could only taste the slightly licorice towards the end of each sip.

I just don’t think I like the idea of having black pepper in my tea either.  And if I want a true licorice herbal tea, I will just stick with one with less spices.

The reason I picked up this box was because I normally enjoy licorice tea.  And the box design isn’t too bad.  I like the color combination of purple and orange.

Licorice are naturally sweet and have many health benefits too.  It can help maintain a healthy lung, and good to soothe sore throats.  Licorice helps support a healthy stomach, including the lining of the intestines.  So it’s best to drink licorice tea after a meal.

Ingredients:  Organic Licorice Root, Organic Cinnamon Bark, Organic Orange Peel, Organic Ginger Root, Organic Cardamom Seed, Natural Tangerine Flavor, Organic Black Pepper, Organic Clove Bud, Natural Cinnamon Oil.

Read the rest of this entry »