How to Cook with Asian Aromatic Herbs

Wrap pieces of these hot, smoky crêpes in cool lettuces and aromatic herbs—the mix is called a table salad*—and dip into Vietnamese dipping sauce.

Recipe: Sizzling Saigon Crêpes

* For table salad, or rau song, use lettuce leaves, thinly sliced cucumber, and any combo of aromatic herb sprigs.

Restaurant owner and cookbook author Mai Pham shares her recipe for a traditional Vietnamese fish soup. This spicy bowl offers just the right balance for your taste buds.

Recipe: Sweet and Sour Shrimp Soup

Spicy, tangy, and hinting of fresh cilantro, rau ram is usually served, when tender and young, as whole sprigs in a table salad; otherwise, the leaves are added to salads or used to garnish noodles.

More: 4 great noodle bowls

Every part of this sweet-floral plant can be used—even the whole stems and roots, which create flavors much more intense than those from the leaves. For your next soup or stir-fry, try adding 1- to 2-inch lengths of cilantro stem.

Recipes:

Shiitake Mushroom and Tofu Soup

Japanese Beef Bowl

Add a handful of these anise-licorice-flavored leaves to curries and soups or to a hot pan with garlic and chiles for stir-fries such as Thai basil chicken.

More: Quick and tasty stir-fries

Mint is what makes many Southeast Asian salads—Thai larb and Vietnamese goi, for instance—come to life. It’s also an integral herb for quick Asian wraps and for garnishing noodle soups.

More: 4 great noodle bowls

Typically chopped finely, cilantro-like ngò om is added to food—especially braised meat dishes and soups—just before serving. It’s essential in Sweet and Sour Shrimp Soup.

Recipe: Sweet and Sour Shrimp Soup

A bit lemony and aniselike, rau tía tô is the Vietnamese version of the Japanese red shiso. Shred the leaves and add to noodles, or use them whole as wrappers.

It’s especially delicious with Sizzling Saigon Crêpes.

When I was growing up in Saigon, our family table was always adorned with a platter of aromatic herbs: We used them as wrappers for grilled, pan-fried, and steamed foods and as salads, and we’d sprinkle them into soup. Here in California, I tuck Thai basil into turkey sandwiches, and I bring a stash of Vietnamese coriander to eat with dim sum.

Spring and summer are when you’ll find them fresh—mainly at Asian markets, and at some farmers’ markets. Store them in a plastic bag in the warmest part of your refrigerator, wash them right before using, and slice with a lightweight, very sharp knife to prevent bruising.