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    Vietnamese cinnamon (Cinnamomum loureiroi Nees.)

    Synonyms

    botCinnamomum loureirii
    DanishVietnamesisk Kanel
    EnglishSaigon cinnamon
    EsperantoVjetnama cinamomo
    FinnishSaigonkaneli
    FrenchCannelle de Saïgon, Cannelle de Cochinchine
    GermanVietnamesischer Zimt, Saigon-Zimt
    HungarianSaigon fahéj, Vietnámi fahéj
    Korean일본계피, 사이공계피
    Ilbon-gyepi, Saigong-gyepi
    LaotianKhe
    LithuanianSaigoninis cinamonas
    PolishCynamonowiec sajgoński (tree)
    PortugueseCanela-de-saigão
    RomanianScorțișoară vietnamezăScorţişoară vietnameză
    RussianВьетнамская корица
    Vetnamskaya koritsa
    SpanishCanela de Saigón
    Thaiอบเชยญวน
    Ob choey wan
    VietnameseQuế, Quế quì, Quế tanh hoá
    Que, Que qui, Que tanh hoa
    Cinnamomum loureiroi: Vietnamese cinnamon
    Vietnamese cinnamon

    Used plant part

    Bark of young branches.

    Plant family

    Lauraceae (laurel family)

    Sensory quality

    Vietnamese cinnamon has a cassia-like flavour.

    It is very difficult to judge the culinary value of Vietnamese cinnamon; the quality that was imported to Eastern Europe in the days of the Cold War was poor, similar to low-quality cassia. There are indications that Vietnam has better stuff to offer, but it's not yet widely available in the West.

    Main constituents

    Vietnamese cinnamon bark contains 1 to 7% of essential oil; this is, at its upper limit, considerably more than found in other cinnamon species. In composition, Vietnamese cinnamon oil resembles that of Chinese cinnamon, i.e., mostly cinnamaldehyde with only traces of eugenol.

    Cinnamaldehyde is also the main constituent of Vietnamese cinnamon root oil, but the leaf oil seems to be of different, yet unknown (to me) composition.

    Origin

    Northern Vietnam (border to Southern China).

    Etymology

    See Sri Lanka Cinnamon for “cinnamon”, Chinese Cinnamon für “cassia” und Indonesisian Cinnamon für “canella” and related forms.

    The botanical species epithet loureiroi is in honour to João de Loureiro (1717–1791), a Jesuit who travelled in South East Asia and reported a detailled description of the Vietnamese flora. In older literature, the name of the plants is given errorneously ans Cinnamomum loureirii.

    Selected Links

    chemikalienlexikon.de: Zimtaldehyde Sorting Cinnamomum names (www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au) Recipe: Pho bo [phở bò] (recipesource.com) Recipe: Pho bo [phở bò] (foodtv.com)

    Cinnamomum loureiroi: Vietnamese cassia twig
    Vietnamese cinnamon, branch with leaves
    Saigon cinnamon has now rather vanished from the European market. It has been much traded in East European countries before the fall of the Iron Curtain, but, for its low quality, is now hardly found outside Vietnam.

    Vietnamese cinnamon frequently appears in North Vietnamese (Hanoi style) beef soup (pho bo [phở bò]). This specialty is made of bones, vegetables and meat by boiling these ingredients for as much as 12 hours; cinnamon and star anise are added for the last few hours. The broth is served as hot as possible with noodles, boiled meat, thin slices of raw beef, a variety of different vegetables and herbs (for example, coriander or mint leaves or young onion bulbs), raw egg yolk, chile and garlic. If you ever come to Hanoi, don't miss it! On the topic of South Vietnamese soups, see Vietnamese coriander.

    For a comparison of different cinnamon species, see Indonesian cinnamon.

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    Modification date: 9 Jul 1998