Having a headache because of confusing betel leaves with piper lolot, coriander with dill, are they different?

Shape of betel leaf plant

Previously, a vermicelli with tofu in the old town in Nha Trang city attracted the attention of netizens because of the way it responded to customers:

"Ma'am, our vermicelli with tofu does not have mustard leaves. The vegetables sold with vermicelli with tofu include perilla, Vietnamese balm, herbs, and lettuce. Our order did not include perilla. Can you differentiate between perilla and Vietnamese balm?"

The article "Customer scolds restaurant for serving perilla leaves with vermicelli and tofu, does the restaurant know about Vietnamese balm?" - talks about the difference between perilla and Vietnamese balm, lettuce and mustard greens - posted on Tuoi Tre Online on May 6 received interactions from readers, not only in the newspaper's comment section but also on a number of forums about cuisine and eating.

Is it common to mistake perilla for Vietnamese balm?

"Perilla and Vietnamese balm have two different colors, how can you mistake them. One is purple, one is green", "I give up, you can't mistake them"... are comments from readers on some groups.

Someone immediately objected: "It's common to mistake perilla for Vietnamese balm." Facebooker Hang Phan said: "Perilla is a hybrid of green leaves (you can see the purple when you turn it over), so it's easy to mistake."

Even in the comment section of the above bun dau restaurant's fanpage post, there are many people who mistake the two perilla plants for kinh gioi.

Additionally, many people continue to debate lettuce vs. kale.

Due to regional factors, some people still call lettuce "cai" (although it is not common). Therefore, some guests think that the guest who called "lettuce a cabbage" is not wrong.

Some people were more harsh when they commented that the restaurant "talked back", "I can't tell the difference, I wonder, what is the restaurant doing so fiercely?".

The seemingly small incident eventually became a topic of discussion online, attracting the attention of many people.

The above Old Quarter vermicelli with tofu restaurant had to post a new article, explaining more clearly so that customers could understand: "Because the customer noted on the ordering app that they did not eat perilla. The restaurant read the note, selected vegetables without perilla for the customer, but the customer still gave them a two-star rating and wrongly accused them of having a bag of vegetables with perilla, so I think the customer could not tell the difference."

"On the app, when completing an order, the customer's phone number information will no longer be available, so customer reviews cannot be edited. Many unreasonable things like this also greatly affect the restaurant...", this restaurant wrote.

The owner of this restaurant added that many customers say "lettuce is also cabbage", the restaurant should accept this, the restaurant understands that this originates from regional culture but still prioritizes using the common language of the whole country, avoiding confusing the two.

And here is betel leaf

Betel leaves with piper lolot, coriander with dill… are also often confused.

From the above story, it can be seen that the number of people who cannot distinguish between vegetables is not rare. Not only perilla and Vietnamese balm, betel leaves and piper lolot, coriander and dill… are also commonly confused.

Rarely, some people even mistake star fruit trees for Malabar spinach trees. One friend said: "When I was little, I thought star fruit leaves were Malabar spinach leaves. When the Malabar spinach tree bore star fruit, I realized it was not."

Another friend shared a memory of his college days living with someone who didn't know what piper lolot was.

"I told him to go to the market to buy lolot leaves to wrap the spring rolls. He said he didn't know what lolot leaves were. I told him if he didn't know, he could go to the vegetable store and ask them to give him some lolot leaves.

He came back and said there were no betel leaves today. The next day I went to the market, the vegetable vendor told me to give him some betel leaves, he said I didn't buy betel leaves, I bought betel leaves", this person said.

"Many people can't tell the difference... I was shocked when I went with some young kids in the company. There were 10 types of raw vegetables and herbs, but they couldn't tell the difference", "Tell my daughter to go pick herbs, and she'll pick whatever leaves she wants"... are some of the shares.

Listening to the "ear-aching" debate, one person concluded: "Vietnamese cuisine is rich, just talking about the vegetables alone gives me a headache."

On a culinary group, someone said this was "a funny story, Vietnamese flowers and leaves are extremely diverse and rich, there's no end to the story", "not everyone can distinguish between different types of vegetables, so it's worth taking this opportunity to learn more".

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nhuc-cai-dau-vi-nham-trau-khong-voi-la-lot-rau-mui-voi-thi-la-khac-nhau-khong-20240509112353609.htm