, named after

basil Basil (, ; , ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' (, )), also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a hardiness (plants), tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" r ...

(), is a

spice mix Spice mixes are blended spices or herbs. When a certain combination of herbs or spices is called for in a recipe, it is convenient to blend these ingredients beforehand. Blends such as chili powder, curry powder, herbes de Provence, garlic salt, ...

ture of four or five spices found in

Vietnamese cuisine Vietnamese cuisine encompasses the foods and beverages originated from Vietnam. Meals feature a combination of five fundamental tastes (): sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and Piquant, spicy. The distinctive nature of each dish reflects one or more ...

Ingredients

typically consists of four ingredients ground into a fine powder: *

Chinese cinnamon ''Cinnamomum cassia'', called Chinese cassia or Chinese cinnamon, is an evergreen tree originating in southern China and widely cultivated there and elsewhere in South and Southeast Asia. It is one of several species of ''Cinnamomum'' used prima ...

(as opposed to

Saigon cinnamon Saigon cinnamon (''Cinnamomum loureiroi'', also known as Vietnamese cinnamon or Vietnamese cassia and ''quế trà my'', ''quế thanh'', or " quế trà bồng" in Vietnam) is an evergreen tree indigenous to mainland Southeast Asia. Saigon cinna ...

) *

Star anise ''Illicium verum'' (star anise or badian, Chinese star anise, star anise seed, star aniseed and star of anise) is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to South China and northeast Vietnam. Its star-shaped pericarps harvested just before ripen ...

* () *

Clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...

Some recipes call for five ingredients, with the addition of

seeds. Less common ingredients may include: *

Fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

* () *

Black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

* Zest of ( or , a willowleaf

Mandarin orange A mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), often simply called mandarin, is a small, rounded citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. The mandarin is small and oblate, unlike the ...

) * seeds ()

Usage

In northern Vietnam, is typically used on roasted foods, such as roasted pig and crunchy coated

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

s (). and

five-spice powder Five-spice powder () is a spice mixture of five or more spices—commonly star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, and fennel seeds—used predominantly in almost all branches of Chinese cuisine. The five flavors of the spi ...

have similar ingredients and can be used interchangeably on meat dishes. differs from the more well-known Cantonese blend in the portions of each ingredient, thus producing a distinct taste. In the late 1920s, various

phở Phở or pho (, , ; ) is a Vietnamese soup dish consisting of broth, rice noodles (), herbs, and meat – usually beef (), and sometimes chicken (). Phở is a popular food in Vietnam where it is served in households, street-stalls, and ...

vendors experimented with as part of a short-lived "" trend.

References

{{Vietnamese cuisine Vietnamese cuisine Herb and spice mixtures