the name "coriander" covers a group of herbs commonly used in asian cooking. here are 3 basic varieties:
regular coriander (cilantro)
cantonese: heong choy
english: coriander, cilantro, collender, chinese parsley
gujurati: kothmiri, konphir, libdhane
hindi: dhanya, dhania
japanese: koendoro
laotian: hong pomn
malay: ketumbar
mandarin: xiang cai, yan sui, hu sui
tamil: kothamali
thai: pak chee
vietnamese: ngo
this looks similar to parsley, but smells and tastes very different. luckily most asian groceries don't sell parsley, so there's no confusion; but if you're in a western grocery, you might have to do the smell test. cilantro is great both for garnish and as an essential ingredient in south asian, east asian and southeast asian dishes. its flavor is an excellent complement to the spicy kick of chili peppers or chili sauce.
long coriander
english: long coriander, spiny coriander, saw-tooth herb, fitweed, spiritweed
hindi: bhandhanya
malay: ketumbar java
spanish: culantro, recao
thai: pak chee farang
vietnamese: ngo gai
this long, thin leaf has the same basic taste as cilantro, but is slightly tougher and milder. serve it alongside pho and other soups, for tearing up and adding at the table. it's actually native to central america, but it has been widely adopted in southeast asian food.
vietnamese coriander
vietnamese: rau ram
as far as i know, this is only used in vietnamese food, and you can only get it at stores that cater to vietnamese.
related links:
regular coriander or cilantro (gernot katzer's spice dictionary)
long coriander (gernot katzer's spice dictionary)
vietnamese coriander (gernot katzer's spice dictionary)
vietnamese herb primer (viet world kitchen)
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