金不換

[Ian_Lee]

Has anybody every heard of a food item called 金不換 (the stuff that I will not exchange even if you offer me Gold)?

[skylee]

金不換 = basil

[Ian_Lee]

Skylee:

Is Basil really 金不換 in Chinese?

Unlike HK's Vietnamese eateries, over here the Vietnamese restaurants are really authentic. For every bowl of Pho served, they serve a whole full plate of herbal leaves including freshly grown Basil.

金不換 is also used in Chaozhou cuisine which the chef deep-fries it.

[Quest]

I have always called it 越南香叶, and I love it with 火车头。

[yonglan]

Great on pizza or in pasta sauce! Ha ha ha

[skylee]

Is Basil really 金不換 in Chinese?

As far as I know (which is not much), basil is called 羅勒 in Chinese. But this is a general term, and there are many different types of basil. If you do a search you will see. I have read that 金不換 is one type of basil.

Here is some information -

歐陽應霽[/size]]吃掉意大利

羅勒蕃茄水牛乳酪涼拌

羅勒

國王與我

嘴越饞，就越覺日常飲食中香料的不可缺。當然人各有好，不是每種香料都能佔上一重要席位，可是羅勒（Basil），大扺就有這種人嘗人愛的本事。

又是原產自印度的一種香草，印度教維修努神手上捧的就是羅勒葉。由於栽種簡單，羅勒跑到世界各國都會變種自成一派。意大利的親戚Basilico是鮮嫩甜美的甜羅勒；東南亞的品種挺拔強悍就是金不換，在越南特式湯粉牛肉檬的大湯碗裡堆滿半碗，台灣兄弟就是九層塔，還記得第一次掀起一鍋三杯雞那一陣襲人香氣嗎？

羅勒不是菜，如何喜愛也許不能大口大口的吃，超市裡開始有整株連盆的新鮮甜羅勒出售，叫我這些又懶又嘴饞的實在興奮。一盆新鮮羅勒放在廚房窗台邊，做意大利麵時隨手揉碎幾片，用橄欖油塗麵包時候又來一點，至於無敵的意大利綠色pesto醬，用的是切細的羅勒葉，壓碎炒香的松子和生蒜頭，再加上鷊米基諾乳酪和大量的初壓橄欖油，混起醬來香濃豐厚，綠油油的拌進各類麵食和主菜中，以羅勒之名，為所欲為──希臘語中basileus是英文basil的字源，原來就是國王之意。

Some more -> 越南香叶：金不换