A Guide to Vietnamese Herbs at Asian Market Escondido

Vietnamese cooking lives or dies on its herbs. The same bowl of pho with three different herb plates eats like three different meals. We rotate our fresh herb selection weekly and grow some of it locally, so this guide is what we always have in stock — and what to do with it.

The pho plate (rau thơm)

The classic six fresh herbs we keep stocked for pho, banh xeo, and bun cha:

Thai basil (húng quế)

Peppery, anise, slightly sweet. Different plant from Italian basil — narrower leaves, purple stems. Never substitute with Italian basil; it tastes wrong here. Tear and toss into hot broth.

Cilantro (rau mùi / ngò)

Bright, citrusy. Use the leaves and tender stems. We pick our cilantro fresh and tie in bundles — store wrapped in damp paper towel in the fridge.

Culantro / sawtooth herb (ngò gai)

A much stronger version of cilantro. Long, jagged leaves. Often missing from American supermarkets — we keep it in stock. Essential for canh chua and good pho garnishes.

Mint (rau húng lủi)

Spearmint family. Cooling counter to fish sauce-forward dishes. Use as a finishing herb, not a cooking one.

Vietnamese coriander / hot mint (rau răm)

Citrusy, peppery, almost peppery-spicy. Made for chicken salad (gỏi gà), egg dishes, and balut. One of our most-asked-for herbs.

Perilla (tía tô)

Purple-backed leaves with deep, almost cinnamon notes. Wrap with rice paper and grilled meat for incredible bites.

How to keep them alive

A small investment in storage pays off enormously.

1. Trim the stems like cut flowers (½ inch off the bottom).
2. Stand them in a glass with an inch of water, like a bouquet.
3. Loosely cover with a plastic bag or beeswax wrap.
4. Refrigerate for cilantro, mint, and culantro. Counter is fine for Thai basil for a day or two.

Most herbs will last 7–10 days this way. Old herbs revive with 10 minutes in ice water before serving.

The pantry herbs you didn’t know we carry

A few harder-to-find items worth a special trip:

• Bo la lot (wild betel leaves) — wrap-and-grill leaves for grilled beef rolls. Available frozen.
• Garlic chives — flat, broad, more allium-forward than scallions. For dumpling fillings, pancakes, and pho rolls.
• Pandan leaves — vivid green, vanilla-grass aroma. The vanilla bean of Southeast Asia. Usually frozen.
• Lemongrass — fresh stalks, 3 for $1. Bash, peel, and use the inner core.
• Galangal — looks like ginger, tastes like pine. Non-negotiable for tom kha.
• Kaffir lime leaves — frozen and shelf-stable. Tear before adding to release oils.

A weeknight herb-forward meal

Want to try the herbs without committing to a multi-hour project? Try our:

• Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls → uses Thai basil, cilantro, mint, and lettuce all at once. 45 minutes, no cooking past the shrimp.

Or pick up any of our pre-marinated proteins from the meat counter, grill them, and serve with rice paper, lettuce, and a fistful of herbs from the produce section. That’s a real Vietnamese summer dinner — and you’ll be in and out of our shop in 15 minutes flat.

Stop by the produce section any day and ask one of our team — we’ll point you to what came in fresh that morning.