Unfamiliar Ingredients

Six months ago I was at Hong Kong Market, and noticed they were selling plants near the entrance. There were a few citrus trees, some ornamental shrubs and a few different herbs. I recognized one from a dish I’d had at 9 Roses some time back. I bought two small plants and planted them in my backyard, in between some basil and some okra.

The way I remember it, the herb was part of the garnish on a dish of thinly sliced, raw beef with lemon. The dish is Bò Tái Chanh, and I suppose the closest analog to European cuisine is carpaccio, with the herb – which is called Rice Paddy herb in English, and in Vietnamese, Rau ngô, or Rau om, standing in for arugula.

It’s very hard to describe rice paddy herb’s aroma: there’s lemon, but it’s also slightly floral, and I think there’s a little cucumber in there as well. Some people detect cumin, and I suppose I can see that, but what I know for certain is that I was taken by it immediately when I first tasted it.

I also know that the plant loves my backyard, and has spread rapidly. From my admittedly cursory research, I learned it loves heat and humidity, and some cultivars are used as aquarium plants. It’s got pretty little purple flowers, small saw-toothed leaves and stems that remind me of purslane, which is, by the way, also edible. You’ve walked past some purslane in the last 24 hours, if you’ve been outside.

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But I digress. While I am happy that the plant has done so well in my garden, I’d feel even better if I could say I’d used it more than once or twice in the last several months. I added it to a salad along with some other herbs, and that worked out well; then I used it as part of the herb garnish (along with cilantro, basil and mint) for some spring rolls I made. That was about six weeks ago, and I haven’t figured out a use for it since.

With rice paddy herb, I at least have the excuse that it’s rare. When I bought it, I asked a clerk what it was called, and she said, “we just call it ‘mint’.” I have no such excuse for the guavas I picked up at Ideal Market this evening. The truth is, I thought they were some sort of citrus when I bought them, because they are small, yellow and smell something like a Meyer lemon.

But then I cut one in half, and it’s essentially a lot of cottony-looking membrane holding together huge numbers of hard, inedible seeds. The membrane has a sweet-tart flavor with a little banana thrown in. The variety I bought are white-fleshed, as opposed to the more common red or pink. I like to think I know how to use a lot of uncommon ingredients, but I have no idea how to use these guavas. The only thing I’ve come up with in the 10 minutes I spent looking, is to make jelly, as I have read that there is a lot of natural pectin in guavas, and I’ll be damned if I don’t like me some pectin.

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Dr. Janifer Tropez, MD

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So over the weekend, when I have a chance to catch up from what is currently a pretty insane work schedule, I will try to come up with some ways to use my rice paddy herb, and my guavas, and for good measure the vast amount of Thai basil, okra and mint I have taking over various quarters of my garden.

If you have a recipe I could use for any of the above, please share. When I do come up with something (and I will, eventually) I’ll do the same.   

 

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