Vietnamese coriander.

Date: Mon, 6 May 1996 08:51:00 MDT
To: The Culinary Herbs & Spices List <HERBS.HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From: Margaret Lauterbach <mlaute.MICRON.NET>
Subject: Re: Vietnamese Coriander

>I bought some wonderful-smelling stuff called Vietnamese coriander - kind of lemony. But I have no idea what sort of location it would like to be planted in! Sun, part shade, shade, sand, clay, moist, dry, ...?? (I also don't know how to use it, but I'm assuming that I can figure that out!) Has anyone heard of this herb?

It's a tender perennial, botanically known as Polygonum odoratum. In Vietnamese, it's Rau Ram.It needs good light, but Richter's Herb catalog advises growing it indoors only.

From: Brian Williams <bwilliam.WESTMONT.ESU3.NE.US>

I planted my Vietnamese Coriander outside it got hot afternoon sun and ate from it all summer. It didn't come back this year. It taste is wonderful but very spicy!

From: Margaret Lauterbach <mlaute.MICRON.NET>

>Is vietnamese coriander different from the coriander/cilantro used in Mexican foods?

Yes, it is different. Vietnamese coriander is a perennial, cilantro or green coriander is an annual which bolts to seed early in its life. I think they can be used interchangeably.