Hello, All!

I've seen several Thai recipes that call for "Holy Basil" (and
I don't mean the early saint!) I've never used Holy Basil and,
according to http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1644.html
it is not used in cooking. Has anyone here ever cooked with Holy
Basil?

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Steve wrote on Mon, 13 Mar 2006 10:05:45 -0600:

?? Hello, All!
??
?? I've seen several Thai recipes that call for "Holy Basil"
?? (and I don't mean the early saint!) I've never used Holy
?? Basil and, according to
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1644.html it is not used
in cooking. Has
?? anyone here ever cooked with Holy Basil?

SW http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/ing...ts/basilh.html

Thanks very much for the recipes but have you personally ever
used Holy Basil? I have made one or two other recipes calling
for Holy Basil with regular basil and the results were, IMHO,
very satisfactory. To tell the truth, I've noticed the holy
stuff on sale nor have I ever been able to detect the purple
edges of Holy Basil in restaurants and I know the basil supplied
in my favorite Pho place is the regular stuff.

James Silverton.

"Steve Wertz" wrote in message
...
: On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 10:54:19 -0500, "James Silverton"
: not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.net wrote:
:
: Hello, All!
:
: I've seen several Thai recipes that call for "Holy Basil" (and
: I don't mean the early saint!) I've never used Holy Basil and,
: according to http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1644.html
: it is not used in cooking. Has anyone here ever cooked with Holy
: Basil?
:
: http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/ing...ts/basilh.html
:
: -sw

that sounds like the one I use and the Thai lady on the market stall said it was
Holy Basil, or maybe she was just agreeing with me without wanting to look silly
if it wasn't. It certainly has a mint note to it, a kind of cross between basil
and mint, looking more like mint, with thick mint-like stem. Needs a lot of
cooking, very pungent then.
HTH
Cheers
Wazza

Wazza wrote on Tue, 14 Mar 2006 20:15:31 +0000 (UTC):


W "Steve Wertz" wrote in message
W ...
W : On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 10:54:19 -0500, "James Silverton"
W : not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.net wrote:
W :
W : Hello, All!
W
W that sounds like the one I use and the Thai lady on the
W market stall said it was Holy Basil, or maybe she was just
W agreeing with me without wanting to look silly if it wasn't.
W It certainly has a mint note to it, a kind of cross between
W basil and mint, looking more like mint, with thick mint-like
W stem. Needs a lot of cooking, very pungent then.

Perhaps, I'll have to look for it more carefully and try it out.
According to the descriptions, it should be recognizable by its
red or purple edges.

James Silverton

Wazza wrote:

that sounds like the one I use and the Thai lady on the market stall
said it was Holy Basil, or maybe she was just agreeing with me
without wanting to look silly if it wasn't. It certainly has a mint
note to it, a kind of cross between basil and mint, looking more like
mint, with thick mint-like stem. Needs a lot of cooking, very pungent
then.


Just a clarification he *all* basils are mints. They are members of the
mint family, Lamiaceae, and like other mints, they all have square stems.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

To tell the
truth, I've noticed the holy stuff on sale nor have I ever been able to
detect the purple edges of Holy Basil in restaurants and I know the
basil supplied in my favorite Pho place is the regular stuff.

There is more than one type of basil called "holy basil." The type I've
used in Thai cooking is pale green (no hint of red or purple edges). The
flavor is quite different from regular Thai basil (and any other basil
I've tasted). Unfortunately, the stuff is hard to find.

One person in this thread mentioned a minty basil with square stems. I'm
pretty sure this is lemon basil (bai maeng-lak). This type of basil has
square stems and fuzzy, jagged leaves.
--
- Jeff Lichtman
Author, Baseball for Rookies
http://baseball-for-rookies.com/

Jeff Lichtman wrote:
One person in this thread mentioned a minty basil with square stems. I'm
pretty sure this is lemon basil (bai maeng-lak). This type of basil has
square stems and fuzzy, jagged leaves.

Bai mangluk? Hmmm. I have seen this in Thailand and didn't think it was
lemony. It's not used much in Thailand - only a few recipes use it, one
being steamed mussels/shellfish. It is the coarsest of all the basils used
in Thailand.

Bai grapao is used the most - that's the sweet basil a bit like our own.

Bai horapa [sp] is the Holy basil, used in some recipes but again like
Mangluk, not all.

I found a herb grower who had Horapa and bought a plant for my Thai next
door neighbour last year (and one for me). She was amazed: "Where did you
get that!!!!?" and really delighted. My plant grew very well and I used it a
lot, it really had a totally different flavour to normal Basil - less
"italian" and with a deeper more complex taste - used in pasta dishes it
changed them a great deal, so I would not say that anything really can
substitute for Holy Basil.

--
Sue in Portsmouth,
"Old" Hampshire,
"Old" England, UK

EastneyEnder wrote:
Jeff Lichtman wrote:
One person in this thread mentioned a minty basil with square stems.
I'm pretty sure this is lemon basil (bai maeng-lak). This type of basil
has square stems and fuzzy, jagged leaves.

Bai mangluk? Hmmm. I have seen this in Thailand and didn't think it was
lemony. It's not used much in Thailand - only a few recipes use it, one
being steamed mussels/shellfish. It is the coarsest of all the basils
used in Thailand.

Bai grapao is used the most - that's the sweet basil a bit like our own.

Bai horapa [sp] is the Holy basil, used in some recipes but again like
Mangluk, not all.

I found a herb grower who had Horapa and bought a plant for my Thai next
door neighbour last year (and one for me). She was amazed: "Where did you
get that!!!!?" and really delighted. My plant grew very well and I used
it a lot, it really had a totally different flavour to normal Basil -
less "italian" and with a deeper more complex taste - used in pasta
dishes it changed them a great deal, so I would not say that anything
really can substitute for Holy Basil.

We grow bua bok, bai mangluk (sweet, a lot like horapa) and makruet here,
but we're peasants. ;-)

--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!

Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! !