Vietnamese herbs are together known as rau thom and it means ‘fragrant leaves’ in English. The names of Vietnamese herbs usually start with the word ‘rau’. The Vietnamese cuisine makes use of many herbs in cooking. Some of the common Vietnamese herbs that are used in daily cooking include Cilantro and cilantro-kinda herbs, basil, mint, and herbs that are like mint.
What about Vietnamese Herbs?
Cilantro is widely used in Vietnamese dishes to lend that extra taste and flavor. Some of the other popular herbs used in Vietnamese dishes
are tia (red perilla), bao om (rice paddy), diep ca (fish mint), xa (lemongrass), la lot (wild betel), thi la (dill), and rau thom (sorrel).
In the Vietnamese kitchen most herbs are not used for cooking but rather, eaten raw as an accompaniment to foods. In a democratic fashion, whole stem of herbs are put on a plate along with lettuce leaves, etc. Diners help themselves the
herbs of their liking and pinch off the individual leaves to add to their bowl of food or to incorporate into a hand roll. The stems are discarded.On Vietworldkitchen you find a fantastic list of Vienamese Herbs: http://vietworldkitchen.typepad.com/
