Hosted by NeoCities
27 Mar 2022
Mexican oregano (Coleus amboinicus) can be used as a substitute for oregano, and in the tropics it grows a lot better than true oregano. It is known by several other names, and confusingly, is actually native to Africa and Asia, not Mexico. Unfortunately eating it either raw or cooked will make your mouth go numb, which isn't always appreciated. But if you dry the leaves out completely, the numbing effect disappears. However, the plant is very succulent - if you just hang it up to dry it will instead continue to grow.
To dry Mexican oregano, first pick the leaves. Cut the stem just above a node, along with the top 4 to 8 leaves - you want young leaves that have not yet become tough or brown. Remove the leaves from the stem, wash them and dry the water off them. Next, cut them in half along the big vein to help them dry out quickly. Then you have to heat the leaves until they go soft - this breaks the cells and lets the moisture out. Once soft they will quickly dry out, causing them to shrink and become crispy. You can then crush them into powder using a pestle and mortar or a spice blender. You can also crush them with your hands, but it's best to only do this if you plan to use the herb powder immediately, as the moisture from your hands may make the herb powder go off more quickly.
To dry them, I used a homemade solar dryer, but you can also just put them in the oven. The solar dryer was composed of a heavy, black cast iron skillet and an oversized glass lid from a saucepan. The lid was placed on top of the skillet so that a gap remains for ventilation and the moisture can escape. I placed the dryer on the lawn in full sun on a clear day, with a few layers of paper underneath for extra insulation - which still didn't stop the grass underneath from getting cooked.
When drying the oregano leaves, don't cram too many into the dryer at once, or they will take longer to dry. Every couple of hours check that the sun is still shining on the dryer and turn the leaves over. When they are all crispy (after about 6 hours), remove the lid and leave them in the sun for another 30 minutes to an hour to make sure they get really dry. You can then store them, or grind them into powder to use in tomato sauce, herby mayonnaise, Italian soups, herby garlic bread, etc.