Monday, June 20, 2011

Can you identify this plant?

Sometimes hubby and I bemoan the absence of Asians and Asian cuisine in our area.  However, as much as I miss seeing Asian faces and eating delicious foods (oh steaming bowl of ramen, tender bulgogi, juicy soup dumplings, NY style bubble milk tea, tender kong xin cai, salty nasi lemak, fresh sushi, and piping hot samosas-- how I miss you) we are fortunate to have befriended a few Asian gals.  

So we're not so alone.

One gal is originally from Cambodia and though we often misunderstand each other, we do share the common language of  food.  Most of our talk centers around food: what we enjoy eating, what we've made, and what we want to make some day.


 Recently she brought me this plant to grow in my deck garden:

The stems have to remain in water until roots grow.  Then, I'm supposed to pot them in soil.

Apparently the leaves are (1) tasty with pork, and (2) good for people with bad eyes (I wear glasses.)  Hubby and I are excited to try the leaves out, but there's one problem:  I'd like to know the name of this plant before I put it in my mouth.

So that's where you, dear readers, come into play.  What is this plant called?  I tried googling "Asian plant tastes good with pork leaves Cambodian" and didn't find anything besides kaffir lime leaves.

Here's an up close shot for all you super sleuths...