Dried Cardamom

What is cardamom?
The cardamom plant’s scientific name is Amomum subulatum, whose English name is Black cardamom, and is a species of plant in the Ginger family. In Vietnam, people also call it amomum toad or ho ho tree.
The cardamom plant (tò ho) originates from the Eastern Himalayas, especially countries such as Bhutan, Nepal,… and even Central China. In Vietnam, cardamom trees appear mainly in the northern mountainous areas, especially Ha Giang and the Hoang Lien Son range.
Cardamom trees can grow to a height of about 3m, their rhizomes are ginger-shaped, with short petioles or some plants have no petioles. The leaf blades are elliptical and oblong in shape.
Cardamom flowers usually grow in clusters and are orange-red in color. The fruit is oblong, reddish brown in color, about 2cm large and has many stripes on the skin. When eaten, the fruit has a sweet, slightly bitter taste and especially a quite strong smell.