As you know, in order to have delicious and tasty dishes, we can’t help saying about herbs. Herbs add a wonderful array of lip-smacking flavors and inviting fragrances to cuisines. They play an important role to help your dishes more successful. Apart from normal herbs such as mint, basil, sage, or thyme…, there are a lot of strange herbs from different countries and origins with distinct flavor and fragrance.
And in the post today, we’ve collected 17 most exotic herbs around the world that’ll help you make your cuisines a little more extraordinary. Spending your time reading a little about them, you will see that they not only can bring flavor to different dishes but also they can be grown easily. So, if you are a delicious dish-lover, you can grow some in the garden and enjoy their taste. They promise to keep you amazed as other normal herbs, even will better.
#1 Asafoetida
Asafoetida is essentially a gum, widely used in Iranian, Indian, and Aghani cuisines where a pinch of it can supercharge the flavor of any food.
#2 Pineapple Sage
This herb offers a tangy taste with a distinct aroma that goes best in tea, desserts, and salads. The plant also has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties.
#3 Vietnamese Balm
This exotic herb has a unique flavor and aroma. The tea made from its leaves has soothing effects. For culinary uses, it pairs well with meat dishes.
#4 Shiso
Also known as purple perilla and beefsteak plant, its leaves are the main ingredient in sashimi, soups, and sushi. It can also be added to salads, green tea, and stir-fries.
#5 Wasabi
This perennial herb has thick heart-shaped upright leaves. All parts of wasabi are edible, and you can add it to cold soba, sushi, sashimi, udon noodles, and seafood.
#6 Thai Basil
This herb is popular in Southeast Asia, it has purple stems with veined leaves. Tastes best when used fresh in Thai curries, noodles, tea, and meat dishes.
#7 Greek Oregano
This ornamental plant has hairy dark green leaves with small white flowers. This exotic herb is a star ingredient in Greek salad, meat, and soups.
#8 Culantro
Culantro has long serrated leaves with both culinary and medicinal uses. It is popular in Latin American, Southeast Asia, and Caribbean cooking.
#9 Fish Mint
As the name suggests, the leaves have a slightly tangy and fish flavor. It is mainly used fresh in salads, spring rolls, grilled meats, fish, and other Asian cooking.
#10 Pennywort
Pennywort is a relative of carrot and parsley. It has both culinary and medicinal uses, but it is mostly sold as juice. The leaves can be consumed raw, pickled, dried, or sauteed.