Is anybody growing culantro? I grow cilantro during the winter, but have never tried growing culantro, or even seen it for sale locally.
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We definitely can get it around here (N. Cali.) All the Vietnamese Stores carry it.
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I have a pot of culantro growing from leaves (with roots) bought at an Asian market. Just tucked them into the soil, and they did pretty well in a pot in the shade during autumn. I brought them indoors to overwinter, and they stayed healthy with new leaves in a dim corner. Now that I’ve put the pot outside, it is okay, I tried to put it under the sun, but it didn’t seem to like it. Now it was back to shade, grows extremely slowly, I don’t see a big spring start like other herbs, I will add some fertilizer to see how it goes. Still learning…
It’s handy to have the leaves in a pho at home, but I need more.
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I have wanted to grow it. I have tried to grow it from pieces I got in the produce section of a local Asian market without success. Given @naf 's success, I will try again. Seeds I’ve seen online (Etsy? ) seemed expensive.
I found this WorldCrops link with information including other names interesting. I think it was labled ngò gai in my ( NorCal) market.
I remember it being described somewhere as “the herb with a thousand names” or something like that, but I can’t find the source. Here’s a link to a link with names in 31 languages!
This looks useful for growing
I mostly use it for green seasoning, which I make batches of and freeze in ice cube trays.
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Yep.
Sometimes at the Asian Farmer’s I see it with the Root still attached.
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I’ve seen it at Vietnamese markets too, and it’s definitely part of the herb mix for certain Vietnamese dishes in the restaurant. It’s hit or miss though at the bigger, pan-Asian markets we have. We have a decent sized Vietnamese population locally, so you can easily find a lot of Vietnamese ingredients, but this herb seems spotty for availability unless you go to the specialty store.
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I’ve tried culantro from a local store, and it was good, but the price was a little high, so Is tick with my back yard cilantro. Just what i do.
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