Skip to main content

I Used To Hate Cilantro...



Do you like cilantro or coriander? Most people hate this herb because it is pungent. And most people mistake this herb for parsley.

The tiny sprouts of this herb are usually served as a garnish on top of steamed chicken, Cantonese-style. I never found out that this was cilantro until I asked my vegetable vendor in the market. 

When I was young, I hated the smell of coriander. It seemed too strong, too pungent. It smelled a bit like bugs. 

But then it seems our taste buds change as we grow older. 

I started to like coriander. There are times that I actually craved coriander. I'd go to the fridge and pull out a bunch and start eating them!

I believe I was lacking iron so my body told me to go get some iron! 

Coriander to me is the leaves of the herb. Another manifestation of coriander is coriander seeds or biji ketumbar (in Malay language) which you probably use if you cook curries or grind your own spices. 

I use ground coriander as a spice when I cook curries. The dried spice is a little different from the fresh herb. 

You can read all about coriander's benefits  but what I found most interesting is that coriander is a heavy metal detoxifier. It gets rid of mercury in your body. 

Another key benefit to cilantro is its ability to prevent hair loss and encourage hair to grow! (Which I like a lot as sometimes, I lose a lot of hair!) 

"Cilantro juice is a wonderful remedy for promoting new hair growth and combating hair loss as it contains essential vitamins and proteins which help in hair growth. You can make a paste from fresh cilantro leaves using few drops of water and extracting its juice. Apply this on your scalp for an hour before shampooing. This pack should be used twice a week for 2 to 3 weeks to get effective results. Alternatively, you can infuse your hair oil with a powder made from cilantro seeds while massaging your hair. You can also prepare a hair rinse by boiling a bunch of cilantro leaves in water and cooling it." - says this article. 


It's also high in iron which means women should really incorporate more cilantro in their diets.

So one of the easiest ways that I eat cilantro is to make a salad. This is my go-to salad for days when it's humid and hot and I don't have much of an appetite.

Do try out this salad and tell me how it goes.


Cilantro Salad

  • 1 ripe tomato, cubed 
  • 1 large bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped roughly
  • half an onion, diced
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 bird's eye chilli, chopped
  • 1-2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
  • 1-2 teaspoons brown sugar
  • Juice from 5 ripe limes 

Mix all the above in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve. It can be eaten on its own or served as a condiment with rice or taken with barbecued meats. It is excellent on its own but it also goes well with meats. 

If you have leftovers, make sure you drain out all the liquid from the salad before you keep it in an airtight container in the fridge otherwise your salad will be too soggy to eat. 

Bon appetit!


My cilantro salad that is great for a hot day! Perks up your appetite instantly.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tong Sum and Red Date Tea

I caught an interesting cooking show on TV last night. On Astro's Asian Food Channel (Channel 703), I watched a show on TCM. It was a Taiwanese programme where the host and hostess spoke in Mandarin and sometimes a smattering of Taiwan Hokkien. The show featured 3 recipes each segment, using TCM herbs with the herbalist host explaining about the uses of the specific herbs. Then the lady hostess would cook up a dish, usually a main course, using the herbs. While I am not very interested in making dishes like prawn balls with Chinese herbs (it seemed just too much work!), I liked the 2 other recipes they showed. One was a milk beverage with herbs (I can't recall what now). But the other one was easy. A tong sum and red date tea. Tong sum or dang shen is a mild herb which resembles a dry, gnarled twig the size of a finger. It is called the poor man's ginseng in some instances because it shares similar properties with the more expensive ginseng. Dang shen is actually a root wh...
7 comments
Read more

24 Herb Tea - Bitter, Foul-Tasting But Oh So Good For You!

Was out running a couple of errands this entire afternoon and ended up buying groceries at the nearby supermarket. If I had a choice I wouldn't go into this decade-old supermarket because it's small, cramped and you tend to knock into other shoppers with your trolley (yes, the aisles are that narrow). Nic and I figured that we might as well buy our groceries since we were in this vicinity and he did need some coffee. Finally we ended up with a trolley full of cheese, butter, coffee and noodles. Anyway, I was getting thirsty after all the errands and shopping. We decided to stop and have a drink at this stall which sells Chinese herbal tea. This uncle who mans it is actually a Hong Kong native who has been living in Malaysia for a long time. He drives a little white van which he parks at the corner of a junction and opens up for business. You see, he sells hot and cold Chinese herbal teas of all types - the kind that is slowly boiled and brewed. It's common to see Mal...
Post a Comment
Read more

Snow Fungus, Longan, Goji Berry & Red Date Dessert For Lungs & Liver

Just last week I made this dessert because I was rummaging in my kitchen and found some snow fungus. This is a classic dessert that any Cantonese would know. I was just surprised at myself that I haven't made this dessert in a long time. Maybe because I didn't have the key ingredient - snow fungus - at hand! What is Snow Fungus?  It is technically a fungus that grows on dead bark or tree stumps just like wood ear fungus.  Snow fungus or silver ear, snow ear or white wood ear is known as Tremella fuciformis and yes, it is an edible fungus. The pleasanter term is mushroom if that makes you feel better. As most mushrooms go, they contain vitamin D, zinc, calcium, and folate.  Benefits of Snow Fungus Snow fungus is said to have anti-ageing effects due to the presence of superoxide dismutase , an enzyme that acts as a potent antioxidant throughout the body, particularly in the skin. It is best known in TCM for nourishing the lungs and we know how important this fact is right n...
Post a Comment
Read more