Persicaria odorata Persicaria odorata Persicaria odorata, known as rau răm or Vietnamese coriander, is an herb whose leaves are used in Southeast Asian cooking. Other names for this herb include Vietnamese mint, Vietnamese cilantro, Cambodian mint, hot mint, laksa leaf, and praew leaf. Vietnamese coriander is not related to the mints, nor is it in the mint family Lamiaceae, but its general appearance and fragrance are reminiscent of them. "Persicaria" is in the family Polygonaceae, collectively known as "smartweeds" or "pinkweeds". Above all, the leaf is identified with Vietnamese cuisine, where it is commonly eaten fresh in salads (including chicken salad) and
Herb herb can refer to a much larger range of plants, with culinary, therapeutic or other uses. For example, some of the most commonly described herbs such as Sage, Rosemary and Lavender would be excluded from the botanical definition of a herb as they do not die down each year, and they possess woody stems. In the wider sense, herbs may be herbaceous perennials but also trees, subshrubs, shrubs, annuals, lianas, ferns, mosses, algae, lichens, and fungi. Herbalism can utilize not just stems and leaves but also fruit, roots, bark and gums. Therefore one suggested definition of a herb is a