Unsung Culinary Herbs

During my Olympic excursion up to Vancouver, I had to visit my cousin's restaurant and dine at The Flying Tiger. With a mouth-watering selection of shareable Asian street food which includes 48 hour-marinated Grilled Kalbi Ribs, Crispy Thai Squid, Salt Spring Island Mussels swimming in red curry, and Philippine egg-rolls (Lumpia).


My favorite, however, has to be the scrumptious Pulled Duck Confit Crepes. OMG, it is simply mouth-watering as you assemble your own crepes with the duck, shredded cucumber and jicama, and an assortment of Asian herbs that were so intense and refreshing, I actually yelped in approval!

My cousin joked as she asked for the scientific names of these plants to test my identification prowess and now knowing a few, I had to look 'em up!!

So here's the assemble of herbs:

Thai Basil(Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflora Thai Basil cultivar group: Becoming more and more common as a garnish with the ever popular Vietnamese noodle soup called Pho. It's an attractive plant with purple stems and a licorice like scent.

Shiso (Perilla frutescens): A member of the mint family (Lamiaceae) and looks a little like nettle. It has a subtle minty fennel like scent and taste.


Rau Răm (Persicaria odorata): Know as Vietnamese coriander, this is one of various Persicarias that can be eaten. It has a pungent and distinctive flavor that is spicy and somewhat bitter.


Cilantro or Coriander (Coriandrum sativum): Some people absolutely LOVE this herb, while there are some that are absolutely repulsed by it. I, personally, enjoy this herb as it exists in so many dishes I love. From soups, salsas, salads, I love its pungent and extremely fragrant aroma. That's why it's called "xiang cai" in Chinese meaning "fragrant greens".


Rau Om (Limnophila chinensis var. aromatica):
This herb totally blew me away with its pungent lemony flavor with a hint up cumin.

I've been able to find these herbs in Asian markets and I'm anxious to recreate these crepes or just experiment with these wild and aromatic flavors in various dishes.

Then, I'll be compelled to try and grow them!

The Holidays with family....and the plants they received! haha

Happy Holidays everyone. I hope you all are looking forward to the new year.

Even with the holidays present, it's still very busy, but I wanted to take the time to send my greetings to those who have been so supportive of this new venture! My sincerest thanks!

The holidays have been spent with family and friends and I got such a late start in my shopping and greeting cards, but I managed to pull it off.

There were plants on my list for a few folks including my Aunt Hermie whom I bought a really cool Tillandsia since she has good luck with them growing in the windowsill of her denture clinic! She seemed thrilled to get it! She's holding Tillandsia straminea, a rare species with sweetly scented flowers! Almost tempted to buy one for myself!




On Christmas Day, I went to visit my cousins in Bellevue and presented my cousin, Tina, one of my RHR and Landwave T-shirts.



She lives up in Vancouver, B.C., runs several restaurants and, of course, is an amazing cook! One of her restaurants called "The Flying Tiger", and it is absolutely A MUST if you enjoy Asian Cuisine. I'm looking forward to my next visit to order my personal favorite: Pulled Duck Confit Crepes! Tina is another individual in my family that I have much respect for as she works exceedingly hard at her craft, yet is humble and maintains a wonderful sense of humor and charisma. I would LOVE to name a plant after her restaurant someday or design some containers for her!