Culantro is a tropical American herb with long, saw-toothed leaves and a powerful coriander-like flavour. It is key to Puerto Rican recaito, Trinidadian green seasoning and Vietnamese pho.
What it is¶
Culantro is a low-growing herb with flat rosettes of long, tongue-shaped leaves edged with fine, saw-like teeth. Despite looking nothing like it, it tastes remarkably like coriander, only stronger, earthier and more pungent. It belongs to the same family as coriander, and to the same genus as the sea hollies (Eryngium), which becomes obvious when it flowers: the flower heads are small, greenish, thistle-like cones surrounded by spiny bracts.
It has many names:
| Region | Name |
|---|---|
| Puerto Rico | recao |
| Trinidad and Tobago | shado beni (or bandhania) |
| Dominican Republic, Cuba | cilantro ancho, culantro |
| Vietnam | ngò gai ("thorny coriander") |
| Thailand | phak chi farang ("foreign coriander") |
| English | sawtooth coriander, long coriander, spiny coriander |
Its species name, foetidum, means "foul-smelling", which tells you how some early botanists felt about it.
Origins and history¶
Culantro is native to tropical America, where it has long been used in the cooking and folk medicine of the Caribbean and Central and South America. After the Columbian exchange it spread across the tropics and became firmly established in Southeast Asia, where it was taken up enthusiastically in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia; the Thai name, meaning "foreign coriander", is a reminder that it arrived from overseas.
In the Caribbean it became a cornerstone of Puerto Rican and Trinidadian cooking, while in Southeast Asia it is a standard herb in noodle soups and salads. It is often preferred to coriander in the tropics because it tolerates heat and humidity better.
Flavour and aroma¶
Culantro smells and tastes like a concentrated version of coriander leaf, with a stronger earthy, musky, almost metallic pungency. The dominant compound is (E)-2-dodecenal, one of the aldehydes also found in coriander; people who find coriander soapy (see why coriander tastes of soap) generally find culantro even more so.
Unlike coriander, culantro keeps much of its flavour when cooked, and even when dried, which is why it is used in sauces and stews rather than only as a garnish.
In the kitchen¶
Culantro's toughness and strength mean it is usually chopped finely or blended, and it works both raw and cooked.
- Recaito and sofrito. Puerto Rican recaito is a blended paste of recao, onions, garlic, green ají dulce peppers and often coriander leaf. It is the flavour base of rice dishes (arroz con gandules), bean stews, soups and asopao. Allow roughly 8–10 leaves per cup of paste.
- Trinidadian green seasoning. Shado beni is blended with chives, thyme, garlic, pepper and other herbs into the green seasoning used to marinate meat and fish. Blended with garlic, lime and hot pepper, it becomes shado beni sauce, served with doubles, bake and shark and fried snacks.
- Vietnam. Ngò gai is one of the herbs served with phở, and it goes into the sour fish soup canh chua and into salads. Slice it crossways into thin ribbons.
- Thailand and Laos. Used in larb, nam tok and other meat salads, and in soups.
- Latin America. Added to beans, soups, ceviches and salsas.
💡 Slice across the leaf
Culantro leaves are tough and fibrous lengthways. Stack them and slice crossways into fine ribbons, 2–3 mm wide, before chopping further.
Buying and storing¶
Look for culantro in Caribbean, Latin American and Southeast Asian grocers. Choose firm, deep green leaves. It keeps much better than coriander: wrapped in damp paper towel in a sealed bag in the fridge, it will last one to two weeks.
It also freezes well, whole or blended into a paste with a little oil. Blended recaito freezes in ice-cube trays for up to six months. Dried culantro is sold but is a poor substitute for fresh. See freezing herbs.
Substitutes¶
Coriander leaf is the natural substitute; use about twice as much, including some finely chopped stems, and add it at the end of cooking as coriander does not stand up to heat as well. Vietnamese coriander provides a similar pungency in Southeast Asian dishes.
Pairs well with¶
Garlic, onions, ají dulce and other peppers, scotch bonnet, lime, thyme, chives, coriander leaf, tomatoes, beans, rice, pork, chicken, fish, beef noodle soups.
Growing your own¶
Culantro is a biennial or short-lived perennial usually grown as an annual. It is frost-tender and needs warmth.
- Sowing. Sow indoors in spring at 20–25°C, on the surface of compost or barely covered. Germination is slow and erratic, often taking three or four weeks.
- Position. It prefers shade and moisture. In strong sun it quickly produces its spiny flower stalks and the leaves become tough and fewer. Grow it in a shady spot, or under a taller crop, in rich, moist compost.
- Care. Cut out flower stalks as soon as they appear to prolong leaf production. Plants grown in shade have larger, more tender leaves.
- Winter. Bring pots indoors before the first frost; a bright windowsill will keep a plant going.
Leaves can be harvested once the rosette has 10 or more leaves, by cutting the outer ones at the base. See growing herbs indoors.