Reference point
Shell a dried amomum pod and smell the seeds inside.
Do this before you read on. An entry only works when you have just smelled the thing.
Camphor, slightly cool, with an earthy note and a thin layer of sweetness. Much lighter than black cardamom and without smoke.
Amomum and black cardamom are both in the ginger family, both dried pods full of seeds, and they are often confused at dry-goods stalls. How to tell them apart: black cardamom is heavy, smoky and leans towards the base stage; amomum is light, cool and leans towards the middle stage.
It is a useful entry for anyone who cooks, because swapping one for the other changes a pot of broth completely.
How to smell it
Shell an amomum pod and a black cardamom pod and smell the seeds of both in turn. Write two words for each. It is one of the most practical easily-confused pairs in the Vietnamese kitchen.
Why this one is hard
Because the two pods look alike and are sold side by side at dry-goods stalls, often without clear labels.
Don’t confuse with
This entry
Amomum
Spicy family
Black cardamom is heavy, smoky and in the base stage; amomum is light, cool and in the middle stage. The two pods look alike at dry-goods stalls.
Scientific note
Amomum is rich in bornyl acetate and camphor, two compounds with the same bicyclic skeleton. That is why it has a cold note close to the medicinal family even though it belongs to the ginger family and is used as a spice. Bornyl acetate is an ester, so it is softer than pure camphor, and the ratio between the two decides whether a batch of amomum leans warm or cold.
In Vietnamese life
Amomum grows wild under the forest canopy in many northern mountain provinces and is an important source of income for some communities. It is also an ingredient in dozens of traditional remedies.