Thai Herb Names: An English–Thai Guide to Herbs on Thai Menus

The Thai herb names you will see most often on menus are horapha (Thai basil), kaphrao (holy basil), phak chi (coriander or cilantro), phak chi farang (culantro), takhrai (lemongrass), bai makrut (makrut lime leaves), kha (galangal) and bai toei (pandan). Each has a distinct look and smell. Thai basil has purple stems and smells of anise. Holy basil has fuzzy, jagged leaves and a peppery, clove-like bite. Lemongrass is a pale, woody stalk with a lemon scent. Makrut lime leaves are glossy double leaves shaped like a figure eight. Pandan is a long, bright green blade that smells sweet, like vanilla and fresh rice. Learn these few herbs in Thai and you can read most of a Thai menu and know roughly how a dish will taste.

What are the most common Thai herbs, and what are their names in English?

The table below lists the core Thai herbs in Thai and in English. Each row gives the English name, the usual Thai transliteration with Thai script, how the plant looks, how it smells and tastes, and a dish where it often appears.

English name	Thai name	How to recognize it	Aroma and taste	Typical dish
Thai basil	horapha (โหระพา)	Smooth, shiny pointed leaves; purple stems; purple flower buds	Sweet, anise or licorice-like	Green curry, red curry
Holy basil	kaphrao (กะเพรา)	Smaller, slightly fuzzy leaves with jagged edges; green or purplish stems	Peppery, clove-like, a little numbing	Phat kaphrao (holy basil stir-fry)
Lemon basil	maenglak (แมงลัก)	Narrow, pale green leaves; tiny white flowers	Lemony and soft	Kaeng liang (peppery vegetable soup), with khanom chin noodles
Coriander / cilantro	phak chi (ผักชี)	Delicate, flat, lacy leaves on thin stems; white roots	Fresh, citrusy, grassy	Garnish on soups, salads, noodles
Culantro	phak chi farang (ผักชีฝรั่ง)	Long, narrow leaves with saw-toothed edges, growing in a rosette	Like strong coriander, more pungent	Larb, nam tok, northeastern soups
Lemongrass	takhrai (ตะไคร้)	Pale green-white stalk, firm and fibrous, with grassy tops	Bright lemon, floral	Tom yum, curry pastes, lemongrass salad
Makrut lime leaf	bai makrut (ใบมะกรูด)	Dark, glossy, leathery leaf in two joined sections, like a figure eight	Intense, perfumed citrus	Tom yum, curries, fish cakes
Galangal	kha (ข่า)	Hard, pale rhizome with pink tips and ring-like bands	Piney, peppery, citrusy	Tom kha, tom yum, curry pastes
Pandan	bai toei (ใบเตย)	Long, flat, bright green blades, like stiff grass	Sweet, nutty, vanilla and cooked-rice notes	Pandan chicken, desserts, coconut rice

How do you read herbs in Thai on a menu?

A few short Thai words recur in Thai plant names, and knowing them helps you decode menu items you have never seen. Thai menus in English usually transliterate these words instead of translating them.

Bai (ใบ) means leaf. Bai makrut is makrut lime leaf and bai toei is pandan leaf.
Phak (ผัก) means vegetable or edible green. Many leafy herbs start with it, such as phak chi.
Rak (ราก) means root. Rak phak chi is coriander root, a common ingredient in curry pastes and marinades.
Ton (ต้น) means stem or plant. Ton hom is spring onion.
Phat (ผัด) means stir-fried. It often comes before an herb name, as in phat kaphrao.

Spelling changes from menu to menu because there is no single standard way to write Thai in Latin letters. Holy basil can appear as kaphrao, krapao, gaprow or ka-prao. Thai basil can appear as horapha or horapa, and lemongrass as takhrai or takrai. Sounding the word out usually leads you to the right herb.

What is the difference between Thai basil, holy basil and lemon basil?

Thai cooking uses three different basils that cannot be swapped freely. Thai basil (horapha) is sweet and anise-scented. Holy basil (kaphrao) is peppery and clove-like. Lemon basil (maenglak) is citrusy. All three are often translated simply as basil on English menus, so the Thai name tells you which one you will actually taste.

Thai basil (horapha)

Thai basil is the easiest to spot. It has deep purple stems, smooth glossy green leaves and, when flowering, purple spikes of buds. Rub a leaf and you smell licorice or anise. It holds up better to heat than Italian basil, so cooks add whole leaves near the end of cooking to green and red curries and to stir-fries called phat horapha. It is also served raw on herb plates.

Holy basil (kaphrao)

Holy basil has smaller leaves with jagged edges and a slightly fuzzy surface. Its scent is warm and spicy, closer to clove and black pepper than to sweet basil. There are green (white) and red varieties, and the red type has a purple tinge and a stronger flavor. Holy basil is the defining herb in phat kaphrao, the popular stir-fry of minced meat, chili and garlic served over rice, often with a fried egg. Its flavor comes out with heat, so it is almost always cooked.

Lemon basil (maenglak)

Lemon basil has narrow, pale green leaves and a clear lemon scent. It is less common on menus outside Thailand. It appears in kaeng liang, a peppery vegetable soup, and is served fresh with khanom chin rice noodles and curry. Its seeds swell into small jelly-coated beads in sweet drinks and desserts.

Feature	Thai basil (horapha)	Holy basil (kaphrao)	Lemon basil (maenglak)
Stem color	Purple	Green or purplish	Green
Leaf surface	Smooth and shiny	Slightly fuzzy, jagged edges	Smooth, narrow, pale
Smell	Anise, licorice	Clove, pepper	Lemon
Usually eaten	Cooked briefly or raw	Cooked	Raw or in soup
Signature use	Green curry	Phat kaphrao	Kaeng liang

How do you tell coriander from culantro?

Coriander (phak chi) has soft, lacy, flat leaves on thin stems. Culantro (phak chi farang) has long, single, saw-toothed leaves that grow from a central base. Both share a similar fresh, green flavor, but culantro is stronger and tougher, so it is usually chopped finely and used in larger amounts in robust dishes.

Coriander or cilantro (phak chi)

The leaves are what most people call cilantro, and they are the most common garnish in Thai food, scattered over soups, noodle dishes and salads. Thai cooks also prize the white roots. Coriander root, pounded in a mortar with garlic and white pepper, forms the base of many marinades and curry pastes and adds an earthy, concentrated coriander flavor. If you buy coriander with roots attached, wash them well and keep them for this purpose.

Culantro (phak chi farang)

Culantro looks nothing like coriander at first glance. Its leaves are long and narrow, with serrated edges that feel slightly spiky. The Thai name means foreign coriander, because the plant originally comes from the Americas. Culantro is common in dishes from northeastern Thailand, such as the minced meat salad larb and the grilled meat salad nam tok, and in hot and sour soups.

Dill is also a Thai coriander

Dill is called phak chi lao (ผักชีลาว), or Lao coriander, in Thai. Its feathery fronds and sweet, grassy scent appear mainly in northeastern (Isaan) soups and stews such as kaeng om, and in fish dishes. Seeing phak chi lao on a menu means dill, not coriander.

What do lemongrass, makrut lime leaves and galangal do in a dish?

Lemongrass, makrut lime leaves and galangal form the aromatic base of tom yum, tom kha and many curry pastes. Lemongrass gives a bright lemon scent, makrut lime leaves add a deep perfumed citrus note, and galangal adds a sharp, piney warmth. In soups these three are usually left in large pieces to flavor the broth and are not meant to be eaten, so diners simply push them aside.

Lemongrass (takhrai)

Lemongrass is a firm, pale stalk with a slightly swollen base and tight, layered outer sheaths. The lower, paler part holds the most flavor. The upper green tops are dry and fibrous. In tom yum it appears as diagonal chunks that are too woody to chew. In curry pastes it is pounded smooth. In salads such as yam takhrai, the tender inner core is sliced paper-thin and eaten raw.

Makrut lime leaves (bai makrut)

Makrut lime leaves are dark green, glossy and leathery, and each leaf looks like two leaves joined end to end. Crushing a leaf releases a strong, clean citrus perfume unlike ordinary lime zest. Whole or torn leaves flavor soups and curries. Leaves sliced into hair-thin strips are eaten in fish cakes (thot man pla) and sprinkled over dry curries. Older English menus may call them kaffir lime leaves, but makrut lime is now the preferred name.

Galangal (kha)

Galangal is a rhizome related to ginger, but it is harder, paler and smoother, often with pink tips and visible rings. It smells piney and citrusy, and it tastes sharp rather than hot. Galangal gives its name to tom kha gai, the coconut milk soup with chicken, where thin slices float in the broth. Like lemongrass, the slices are tough and usually left on the side of the bowl.

What is pandan and how is it used?

Pandan (bai toei) is a long, flat, bright green leaf that smells sweet, nutty and grassy, often compared to vanilla and freshly cooked rice. It shares a key aroma compound with jasmine rice. Pandan is used more for fragrance and color than for taste, and the tough leaves themselves are not eaten.

In savory cooking, pandan leaves are wrapped around marinated chicken pieces and deep-fried in gai hor bai toei. The leaf perfumes the meat, and diners unwrap it before eating. In sweets, pandan juice tints custards, sticky rice, jellies and layered desserts a soft green. A knotted leaf simmered with rice or coconut milk adds a gentle sweet scent. If a Thai dessert is pale green, pandan is the likely reason.

Which other Thai plant names are worth recognizing?

Beyond the core herbs, several more Thai plant names show up on menus and herb plates. They are less famous abroad but easy to recognize once you know what to look for.

Mint, saranae (สะระแหน่): small, round, soft leaves with a cool scent. A key herb in larb and nam tok.
Vietnamese coriander, phak phaeo (ผักแพว): slender pointed leaves, often with a dark mark, and a sharp, spicy coriander-like taste. Served fresh with northeastern dishes.
Wild betel leaf, cha phlu (ชะพลู): heart-shaped, glossy leaves. They are used as wraps in miang kham, a snack of toasted coconut, shallot, ginger, lime and peanuts, and in some curries.
Fingerroot, krachai (กระชาย): clusters of thin, finger-like, brownish roots with an earthy, peppery aroma. Used in jungle curry (kaeng pa) and fish-based curries.
Turmeric, khamin (ขมิ้น): a rhizome with bright orange flesh. It colors and flavors southern Thai curries and yellow dishes.
Spring onion, ton hom (ต้นหอม): often chopped and sprinkled alongside coriander as a finishing garnish.

How do you prepare Thai herbs at home?

Most Thai herbs need only simple preparation, but tough aromatics like lemongrass and makrut lime leaves must be cut or bruised correctly to release flavor. The traditional tool is the Thai mortar and pestle, khrok (ครก). A heavy granite mortar is used to pound pastes, and a clay mortar with a wooden pestle is used for bruising salads such as som tam.

Preparing lemongrass

Cut off the dry root end and the dry green tops.
Peel away one or two tough outer layers until the stalk looks pale and smooth.
For soups, cut the stalk into chunks and bruise them with the back of a knife or a pestle to release the oil.
For salads or pastes, slice the tender lower core as thinly as possible across the grain.

Preparing makrut lime leaves

For soups and curries, tear the leaves or crush them in your hand and add them whole.
For leaves you will eat, fold each leaf in half and pull out the tough central rib.
Stack several halves, roll them tightly and slice into very fine threads with a sharp knife.

Handling basils and soft herbs

Pick leaves off the stems just before cooking, because cut leaves darken quickly.
Add Thai basil and holy basil at the very end of cooking, stirring only until they wilt.
Add coriander, mint and culantro raw or at the last moment to keep their fresh aroma.

Makrut lime leaves, lemongrass and galangal freeze well, which helps if you can only find them occasionally at an Asian grocery.

What can you substitute for Thai herbs, and what are the limits?

Some Thai herbs have reasonable stand-ins, but none of the substitutes match the original exactly. A substitute keeps a dish recognizable, but its signature character will be weaker or different. Holy basil and makrut lime leaves are the hardest to replace.

Thai herb	Possible substitute	Limitation
Thai basil (horapha)	Italian sweet basil, optionally with a few mint leaves	Lacks the anise note and wilts faster in heat
Holy basil (kaphrao)	Thai basil	Sweet instead of peppery. The dish is no longer true phat kaphrao
Culantro (phak chi farang)	A larger amount of coriander leaves	Milder and softer, with less punch in larb or soups
Coriander root (rak phak chi)	Coriander stems	Less earthy and concentrated
Lemongrass (takhrai)	Lemon zest	Gives citrus but not the floral, grassy depth
Makrut lime leaves (bai makrut)	Lime zest	Captures only a small part of the perfumed aroma
Galangal (kha)	Fresh ginger, used sparingly	Hotter and sweeter, without galangal's pine and citrus notes
Pandan (bai toei)	Pandan extract or a little vanilla	Extract can taste artificial. Vanilla misses the grassy, rice-like scent

When a recipe depends on one herb, such as holy basil in phat kaphrao or galangal in tom kha, finding the real ingredient makes the biggest difference. For garnish herbs like coriander or mint, a close substitute matters much less.