Today I’d like to write about one of the most familiar of our herbs. You can find it in almost every plate and bowl of food, and at every meal. It is pak chi, or fresh coriander.
ALL TASTES CATERED TO: An array of local herbs for sale at a fresh market. This one is patronised by people from Isan and includes a full selection of different kinds of coriander.
There are several varieties, all with their uses in the Thai kitchen. The best-known of them is plain pak chi (coriander), but there is also pak chi farang (sawtooth coriander), pak chi Lao (dill) and pak chi lawm (water dropwort). Ordinary coriander is the predominant member of the group, familiar in every part of the country. It is close friends with the spring onion, so that where you find one, you usually find the other. A long list of Thai dishes could not be made without them.
One interesting fact about this pair of ingredients is that they act as an indicator of the prices that vegetables in general are bringing in the market. If you want to know whether prices are up or down, look at what is being charged for coriander and spring onions. If they are expensive, the rest of the produce will be, too.
Great quantities of coriander and spring onions are sold in markets every day. You can’t make noodle dishes without them; there must be fresh coriander and chopped spring onion in every bowl. But there are times when coriander is used without the spring onion. Fresh coriander is used on its own in making khao kriab pak maw (thin sheets of steamed rice flour batter filled with a sweet pork mixture), sakhu sai moo (balls of steamed tapioca filled with the same sweet pork mixture), sai krawk pranaem (an old-fashioned pork sausage snack), and naem nueang (a Vietnamese dish in which various ingredients are placed on rice paper sheets and formed into packets with fresh vegetables, then eaten), as well as other dishes where it is scattered on top to serve as a garnish as well as a flavouring ingredient.
The Thai term “pak chi roi na” (fresh coriander sprinkled on top to make a dish look appetising) has become a standard expression in Thai that refers to strategies used to make incomplete or inferior projects or undertakings look better than they are.
The fake facade presented to the public is like the fresh coriander sprinkled onto a dish to make it look appealing. Some dishes that are served with chopped fresh coriander leaves floating on top are kaeng jued (bland soups), gai toon kap pak (a steamed soup of chicken and vegetables), see khroang moo kap pak (pork ribs with vegetables) and pet toon kap manao dong (steamed duck in broth with preserved lime).
And it isn’t only the leaves and stems of the coriander plant that are used in cooking. The roots are also very important, as they are used as a flavour enhancer in many dishes. When making broth or stock using pork or beef bones or fish heads and bones, salt and soya sauce are added to the pot, but coriander root is essential, too. It gives the broth a delicate flavour and an appetising fragrance.
When seasoning minced pork to put into a kaeng jued, or to dip in batter and deep-fry, the first thing to do is pound coriander root, garlic and pepper to a fine consistency, then mix it with the minced pork and finally add some soya sauce. The pork will then be fully seasoned and ready for use in any of those dishes.
Dill is a herb that might not be familiar to some people in the Central region but that is well known in the West. About 20 years ago, the Royal Project planted it experimentally in fields high up in the mountains of Chiang Mai, with satisfactory results. Now it is widely available in supermarkets and leading hotels.
It is odd that at the same time that dill was being test-grown in the North, the people of Isan had long been familiar with it. It is eaten there both fresh, in common dishes such as larb and som tam, and cooked into others including kaeng awm or kaeng pak, two vegetable-rich soups made by pounding chillies (prik chi fa and prik ki nu) with garlic and onion, boiling them with pla ra (fermented fish), and then adding whatever mushrooms and vegetables are in season and available. Two ingredients that can never be omitted if the result is to be authentic kaeng awm are dill and spring onions. Someone tasting dill for the first time might find the taste strange, but most people will quickly fall in love with it. It goes well with all kinds of nam prik.
The taste of pak chi farang, or sawtooth coriander, is a basic part of the savour of many popular dishes. Cooks who make kui tio nuea (beef noodles) will sometimes quietly add it to ordinary coriander and spring onions used to flavour the dish. Customers who eat it may not be able to discern which herbs were used, but appreciate the fine aroma and taste of the broth made special by the presence of sawtooth coriander in the background.
Tom khloang pla chon or tom khloang pla krawb, potently flavoured tom yam-style dishes with snakehead fish and crispy dried fish respectively, are made with roasted shallots and fresh chillies, with dried chillies mixed in. Once again, an ingredient that can’t be omitted is pak chi farang.
This herb goes into almost all yum dishes (sour and hot salads), including those made with kunchieng (a sweet Chinese sausage) and grilled pla salit (a fresh-water fish), and is eaten fresh in dishes such as naem nueang, sai krawk praname and northern and Isan-style larb. Its use is not limited to Thai food, either. It makes excellent garlic bread. To prepare it, minced garlic is mixed with butter and salt, then finely-chopped sawtooth coriander is put in before spreading the mixture on the bread. The result is tastier and more aromatic than garlic bread made with oregano.
Sawtooth coriander adds a delectable accent to fried potatoes. To make it, boil the potatoes and cut them into slices. Then fry some chopped onions in butter, and when the onions turn golden, add the sliced potatoes. Put in some crisp-fried bacon broken into little pieces, then season with salt and pepper. Before taking it from the heat, sprinkle on some finely-chopped sawtooth coriander. Especially delicious when eaten with fried sausages.
Pak chi lawm — water dropwort — is well known throughout Isan and the North. It is usually eaten fresh with a number of dishes. The Department or Agriculture has given the Thai name pak chi lawm specifically to water dropwort to differentiate it from other plants. The Thai name has been used as a translation of fennel, but fennel and pak chi lawm look nothing alike and are obviously different plants.
Although the different plants collectively called pak chi in Thai have differences, sometimes subtle, that give them different roles in the kitchen, all contribute strongly to the special character of many Thai dishes and are good for the health when eaten raw. Some may take a little getting used to by those who are coming to them for the first time, but once the unfamiliarity is gone, it is impossible to imagine a Thai meal without them.
A former Outlook staff member and now retired, Suthon Sukphisit has written articles on Thailand’s art and culture and on topics related to Thai society, history, archaeology, architecture, environment and education. These days, he spends his leisure time pursuing another topic in which he is well versed: food and cooking.
