Growing cilantro is easy, but this cool-weather herb quickly flowers and goes to seed as temperatures rise. This can be frustrating as some vegetables typically combined with cilantro, like tomatoes ... What Is Culantro?

Understanding the Context

Culantro (Eryngium foetidum) grows similar to lettuce, with leaves around a central rosette. At the peak of its growth, a culantro plant can be 1 foot tall and the leaves as much as 2 inches wide, and it will produce a blue flower if permitted to bolt. What Is Culantro, and How Do You Use It? - The Spruce Eats If you've ever ordered pho, you've probably tried culantro.

Key Insights

Culantro (Eryngium foetidum) is a deeply aromatic herb popular in cuisines of parts of Asia and Latin America. Culantro and cilantro are not the same thing. Learn from experts how they differ, their similarities, and the best ways to use each herb. Whole leaves of culantro, also called recao in Puerto Rico, can be added directly to your blender for recaíto, or they can be cut into chiffonade and added to salads or used as a garnish, Maisonet says. If you love Caribbean cuisine, you’ve probably tried culantro.

Final Thoughts

This fragrant and nutrient-dense herb brings out the flavors in many dishes, such as recaíto from Puerto Rico. In the United States, the common name culantro sometimes causes confusion with cilantro, a common name for the leaves of Coriandrum sativum (also in Apiaceae but in a different genus), of which culantro is said to taste like a stronger version.