Rice paddy herb (ngò om) ✦

Herbe de rizière (ngo om)

What it is

The plant grows half-submerged in flooded paddies, which is why it reaches Western shops through aquarium suppliers as often as greengrocers — it is sold as an ornamental pond plant under the same Latin name. Its scent sits between cumin and lemon, and in the delta it goes into canh chua by the fistful, torn rather than chopped.

In the kitchen

Tear the stems in off the heat, thirty seconds before the soup leaves the stove — a minute of simmering and the cumin note is gone, leaving a flat grassiness. Keep the tender upper stem: it carries more perfume than the leaf.

Goes with

Tamarind paste Fish sauce Pineapple Okra Shrimp Chili pepper

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