Italian Oregano

Galangal – Alpinia galanga – is a rhizome in the family of ginger. We call it “langkawas” in the Philippines from the Indonesian or Malay word “lengkuas”. It is used mainly for Asian or Thai cooking but it has some medicinal properties too. It is considered an stimulant by homeopathic practitioners. It is also a…

Kinchay is an herb like celery but it is mainly the leaves that are being utilized. It is equivalent to lovage. I use it in stir-fries, chop suey, fried rice and noodles especially pancit bihon. Kinchay would also go together with green onions as a garnish for rice soup we call arroz caldo. The Kinchay…

Lemon Basil is a special type of basil for me because I use it to flavor my green tea just like the lemon verbena. It really has that refreshingly good taste when you drink the tea with it. I always keep lemon basil in my herb garden but this one started to flower no matter…

Knowing herbs as an important part of our culinary world, I tried to study them and experimented on how to grow and how to use them in my cooking. Over the years, I was able to develop a liking to certain types of herbs and so I learned also how to preserve them by drying…

Spearmint is the most commonly used type in the family of mint. They refer to it as mint in recipes like the Vietnamese summer rolls or in the cocktail drinks like mojito. There are other varieties like peppermint, pineapple mint and chocolate mint. I just like to have them in the garden to use as…

My favorite herb to put in noodles is leaf celery or kinchay. It is a Chinese herb and it is a symbol of good fortune during the Chinese New Year. It adds a wonderful flavor to stirfry and all kinds of noodle recipes. I use it together with green onions. Their flavors combined makes food…