Lemon Basil or Maeng-lak in Thai

Lemon basil has a light green stem and light green leaves. It has a lemony flavor and is used in soups, salads, and curries.

Lemon Basil is an annual herbaceous plant with slightly hairy and pale green leaves, eaten either raw or used as a flavouring, and containing approximately 0.7% volatile oil. Therapeutic benefits include the alleviation of cough symptoms, and as diaphoretic and carminative agents.

Bai horapa is the most popular. It has small, dark leaves with reddish-purple stems and flowers. Its flavor is reminiscent of aniseed and somewhat stronger than that of the western sweet basil. It is mainly used in many thai recipes such as Green Curry with Chicken [Kang Kaew Wan Kai], Stir-Fried Clams with Roasted Chili Paste [Hoy Lai Pad Num Prik Prao].

Sweet Basil – they say this is perfect for pesto but I prefer using Thai Basil because of its stronger flavor. What I like about Sweet Basil is it’s color. It gives the pasta a very bright green color. Almost looking like you used green food coloring.

Holy basil has a hot flavor and slightly medicinal. It has a purple stem and purple leaves, usually used in stir-fried menu such as  Stir-Fried Chicken with holy basil leaves (Pad Krapao Gai).

Holy Basil. This is a rather fragrant variety with variegated leaves which is grown around temples in India. It suits very humid areas and can be grown as a border though it gets about 40 to 50 cm tall.