What is Vietnamese Saigon Cinnamon
What is Vietnamese cinnamon or Saigon cinnamon? If we could put a stick of true Vietnamese cinnamon into the hands of every cook, Chef and epicurean, the food world would be a sweeter, more aromatic place. We’re that obsessively addicted and devoted to this amazing spice.
What is Vietnamese Cinnamon?
Vietnamese cinnamon comes from the bark of the Cinnamomum loureirii cassia tree that is native to the higher, mountainous regions of Central and Northern Vietnam. Regarded by many as the world’s most aromatic cinnamon, this Vietnamese variety has the highest concentration of essential oils of any cinnamon currently found in the world today. Because of the powerful amount of aromatic oils, Vietnamese cinnamon is extremely intense and concentrated with sweet cinnamon flavor. The oil concentration is so high that if you ignite the branch, it will spark!
What Does Saigon Vietnamese Cinnamon Cassia Taste Like?
It tastes like a red hot candy! Unlike other cinnamon, Vietnamese cinnamon is surprisingly sweet and robustly spicy, similar to that of a “red hot” candy. Often times other cinnamon is only subtly sweet, if at all. But true Vietnamese is sweet just like candy. It is highly prized among chefs around the world for the high level of flavor that it brings to both baked, stewed and soup stock dishes. When cooking with it, you use only a very small amount (depending on how fresh it is) to achieve the flavors that you would normally need when using a larger amount of other cinnamon.
Yes, it’s true! Fresh bark off the real Vietnamese cinnamon tree is slightly mottled on the outside and burgundy on the inside and when bitten, tastes just like CANDY. My mother (Diane) grew up in Central VietNam (Quang Nam Province), and my Father grew up in Northern VietNam (Hanoi). Both grew up very close to the mountain regions where Viet cinnamon trees grow. As a child, when the cinnamon farmers would bring down their freshly harvested cinnamon down from the mountains, they would eat the fresh, soft, sweet bark like it was candy. The adults would use the fresh cinnamon bark in soup, stocks, stews and desserts.
Mom Grew Up Eating Saigon Cinnamon Fresh
My mother was so spoiled eating and cooking with the soft, fresh cinnamon bark and now calls anything that is dried as…”No Good!”. Wow, how lucky she was! Unfortunately, anyone living a little further away had to only settle for the “dried” stuff. Still, lucky bums.
Even when the bark is dried, biting into it still gives an intensely, sweet, cinnamon flavor. And yes, it still tastes like a red hot candy!
Real vs. Fake Saigon Cinnamon?
After visiting with the cinnamon merchants in Central Vietnam and interviewing people who are familiar with Vietnamese cinnamon, we learned some fascinating facts about this amazing spice.
- The BARK strips: In Vietnam, REAL Vietnamese cinnamon will be sold as long (about 12″-16″) strips of curled bark. The bark is harvested in the summer when the oil content is at it’s highest. As the bark dries, it curls.
- Beware!! Because of the high demand of Vietnamese cinnamon, many merchants will “mix” in or “add” in other varieties of inferior cinnamon.
- TASTE it for confirmation. Just take small nibble of the bark (that’s all it takes), chew and mix with your saliva. Let the bark infuse and release it’s oils. You should taste the sweet/spicy/aromatic flavors.
- Break it into chunks and infuse to your liquid based dishes or grate cleaned bark on a microplane grater for a powdered form. Start with just a little amount first, because of the high oil content, it can overpower your dishes with cinnamon flavors. But is that a bad thing?
- The CHIPS (broken bark pieces): Often times, spice vendors will sell it in small chips. But again, from what we’ve been told, cheaters will mix these with bits of other bark.
- TASTE it for confirmation. Again, if the taste isn’t a sweet, intense flavor kind of like a “red hot”, you are getting hosed. That ain’t the real deal.
- Depending on the size of the chips that you buy, they might be too small to grate. If that is the case, then put the broken pieces in a food processor, grinder or microplane. The already broken pieces can be tossed into your soups and sauces.
- The POWDER: Most times, Vietnamese cinnamon is sold in the powder form. From local merchant rumors in the Quang Nam Province, some companies will “blend” Vietnamese cinnamon with these other varieties of powdered Indonesian cinnamon or just plain wood particles. Because real Viet cinnamon is so aromatic, no one really knows the difference, unless you taste the PURE stuff. Otherwise, if it’s delicious to your liking, then it’s all good.
- TASTE it for confirmation: Place a good sized pinch in your palm and lick the powder. Is it SWEET? Like a RED HOT candy? If it’s not sweet, then you have a blend of other varieties. It’s been grounded down with the a different cassia variety.
- Tourist Trap in Viet-Nam: When in Viet-Nam, don’t settle for the powdered stuff so quickly. Since you’re in the homeland of Vietnamese Cinnamon, ask to see the bark or to buy the bark. Pretend like you know exactly what you are talking about, even if you don’t. If they think you are a serious buyer, they’ll bring out the “good stuff.” Then take a bite out of it, chew, mix with your saliva and look for the sweetness.
Saigon Cinnamon – It seems like the term “Saigon Cinnamon” is the most popular marketing term for this spice. It’s unfortunate because it is not grown anywhere remotely near Saigon. But spice companies seem to assume that the world would associate a Vietnamese spice with one of it’s largest cities, which might make it more marketable. My elders who live in the Quang Nam Province region are confused as to why Western spice companies call it “Saigon Cinnamon”. Would it be appropriate to label anything that came from France as…”Paris”? Or anything that was made in USA as “New York”, “LA”? This is something to think about but we like to just call it, Vietnamese Cinnamon.
Where to buy Vietnamese Cinnamon, “Saigon Cinnamon”:
- The Spice House – sells them in three forms: Whole, cracked and powder. But their whole is only about 3″-6″ long.
- Penzys Spices – calls it Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cassia and is only available in powdered form. Has anyone bought their cinnamon? We’re curious to see if it’s sweet and fragrant at all.
- Savory Spice Shop – Sells both ground and chips.
- King Arthur Flour – Only sells the ground form, but they say it best, “…tasting Vietnamese cinnamon next to supermarket cinnamon is like drinking a cup of espresso vs. coffee from a highway vending machine”. So true!!!
Ohhh la la , sounds exciting for the taste buds…
Can’t wait to try it: and oh so grateful for source info!
Yes, enter me in the drawing!
Thanks…
I am intrigued and inspired! I work days at a Le Cordon Bleu school and the chef instructors and future chef students treat unique spices like gold. I am always interested in something that will elevate my humble but delicious “home” cooking to a new level. The chefs would be so jealous! I would adore making them my apple crumble and homemade Chai using this very special ingredient!
I would love to try this cinnamon in my holiday baking, or any other time for that matter! sounds fabulous please include me in the drawing, Thanks!
OOH! The heavenly sweet rolls that I could make with that Vietnamese cassia. I can only imagine the bliss…
just in time for the holidays! I use cinnamon in a lot of my cooking and actually just posted a fish recipe with cinnamon 🙂 Love your pictures and the description, very informative.
Just as I was starting feel proud of my purchase of full cinnamon sticks (rather than the powder), I am learning there is so much I don’t know about the cinnamon world. Very cool. Thanks for the information.
Beautifully written and photographed piece on cinnamon…best of luck to you in all of your endeavors
I have read about this cinnamon before but have never had the chance to taste it – it looks amazing!
Oh! Oh! You had me drooling with the thought of curry with cinnamon – and pork – and Vietnamese Chicken soup.
Reminds me of the first time I tried those small, tender, intensely flavored strawberries in France – for the first time, I understood how artificial strawberry flavors remotely resembled the fruit. I’ve always wondered why Red Hots didn’t taste like the natural cinnamon I’m used to…I will definitely have to hunt this down. Thanks for all the info!
So glad to read this article. My VNese wife’s relatives often send packages from VN containing VNese pepper, and it’s so different, so much more fragrant and tasty than ordinary pepper, that it’s nearly amazing. I’ve heard much about the quality of their cinnamon—and this article ample supports this fact—but I’ve yet to try it. I think it would be a great addition to some VNese beef stews that I’ve been experimenting with. Thanks for the great information.
I have both cinnamon sticks and a cinnamon bark box from Vietnam — so redolent, so sharp, so delicious. Sometimes I mix it with Chinese cinnamon for a more balanced flavor.
I had no idea there was such a difference in cinnamon – although I suppose I logically SHOULD have (especially since I generally use fresh herbs)! Thanks for the fun, informative lesson!! *smile* And thanks, even more, for the tips on where to purchase some great cinnamon, as opposed to the “cheapo” stuff that I’ve generally purchased in bulk. Since I take the time to bake breads and various other goodies with cinnamon, I’d rather use something with the evocative aroma and taste your words brought to my mind (and tastebuds!). Thanks!!
Wow, the pictures are beautiful.
I would love to try some …
It sounds totally amazing! I’m a cinnamon addicted so I’m craving for this new discover.. love the shots!
Beautiful post.. The burning cinnamon stick alone is amazing 🙂