Ngo Om aka Rice Paddy Herb

Have you ever heard of Ngo Om?  I discovered this through my Mom, of course.... most of my cooking is based on what I grew up with.  But I have never been able to grow this herb.  And it has a ridiculously short shelf life in the fridge.  So every time I wanted to cook with it I would have to make a special trip to the Asian market. And while there is a new one approx 8 miles away, the good one is 17 miles away (I know because it is pretty near the hubs office). So each and every trip to the Asian grocery is a "special" trip.

So I am trying one more time to try and grow this herb.  My Mom looked at me like I was wacky when I told her I had trouble growing it.  She said she just sticks it in the ground and viola... growing. So I hopped on the Internet and figured out why it's voila for her and grumble for me.... humidity.  We have heat out the wazoo here, but dry, dry, dry.....  http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2007/06/growing-rice-pa.html

After reading the article, I emulated the author and potted up my ngo om  I had been rooting.  Ngo om is commonly called Rice Paddy herb, since I guess it grows best in the moist soil of a rice paddy. The fragrance is a mix of citrus/cilantro and just something I cannot describe. I have heard that some describe it as a sweet cumin in taste.

So I had purchased some right before our trip to SF a  couple of weeks ago and plonked some of the hardier looking stems in a full cup of water before leaving. A leap of faith that it would be OK during the week we were away and wouldn't attract bugs. And as you can see, it rooted well.  This part of the growing process usually goes pretty well. It's the part when I put it in soil that they just give up.

So I selected a few of the better rooted ones and put two in each container of soil. Bagged it all up, poked holes for ventilation and now I'm hoping for the best.

My finished product.  I hope this works! According to the author of the website above, you never have to water the plant again. I hope I have to re-pot to bigger pots in a few weeks!

Happy gardening!