húng quế

The owner of the café some blocks down from my apartment grows tomatoes, peppers, and other edibles just outside his front window; and the other day, there for my first visit in a little while, he brought me a clear plastic cup with a rather trampled-looking sprig of basil in an inch of water. "Found this on the ground," he said. "Just let it perch in the water for a few days so it grows roots. Then, you can plant it."

I've never grown any basil of my own, and am only marginally sure that this wilting halfling is sweet basil - but my favorite is Thai sweet basil, also known as Asian sweet basil. Beyond its lovely, almost lemony taste, it gives rise to coquettish purple-white flowers.