Korean Mint (Agastache rugosa): Flavor, Chemistry and Uses

Rub a leaf of Korean mint and you’ll smell anise, not peppermint or spearmint. The chemistry backs up the nose. In most Korean plants the main aroma compound is estragole, the same compound that dominates tarragon oil.¹² In Korea, where it’s called baechohyang, the leaves season salads and soups. The plant is Agastache rugosa, a perennial herb of the mint family native to the Russian Far East and temperate East Asia, and not a true mint at all.

At a glance

What it is

Agastache rugosa is a perennial native from the Russian Far East to temperate East Asia, with uses as food, as medicine and in the environment. A 2022 Korean study calls it one of the most important aromatic plants native to Korea and says it’s found mainly in East Asia, including China, Japan and Taiwan.¹ Kew dates the current name to Kuntze, 1891.³

Despite the name, it isn’t a true mint (genus Mentha). It’s in the same family, Lamiaceae, as mint and basil.

Flavor and aroma

Fresh leaves have a sweet anise or licorice scent with a cool, minty background, and a strong, slightly coarse taste that’s easy to overdo.

The compounds

The anise note has a chemical basis. Estragole, also called methyl chavicol, is the main component of tarragon oil, at 60% to 75% according to the EU Scientific Committee on Food.² In Korean mint it usually dominates too:

• One Korean sample. An earlier study cited by Hong and colleagues found estragole at 89.49% of the oil, with D-limonene at 3.40%, pulegone at 1.86% and menthone at 1.80%.¹ That’s one sample reported in another paper, not a typical value.
• Wild Korean plants. Hong and colleagues analyzed plants grown from seed collected across Korea and found six chemotypes, named for their dominant compound: estragole, pulegone, methyl eugenol, menthone, isopulegone and nepetalactone. The estragole type was the most common, at 53 plants.¹

So a plant from a non-estragole chemotype may smell more of pulegone or menthone than anise. If you’re growing it for the anise flavor, smell the leaves before you buy the plant.

How it is used

Hong and colleagues say the leaves are used to boost the aroma and taste of Korean dishes like salads and soups.¹ Past that, we found no source we could open that names specific dishes. You’ll often read that it goes into the spicy fish stew maeuntang or into savory pancakes. We’ve left those out, not because they’re wrong but because we couldn’t trace them.

Treat it like a strong herb, not a salad green. Chop it finely, add it near the end, and use it where tarragon or anise would work: with fish, in soups, with lamb or pork, with carrots and squash, and in custards, ice cream and baked goods. It also makes a pleasant herbal tea.

Buying and storage

We found no grading standard or published shelf life. Look for leaves that smell strongly of anise when you rub them. Store it like other tender herbs, wrapped in a damp towel in the fridge, and dry whatever you won’t use within a few days. See how to store mint and how to dry mint for the general method.

Health and safety

Traditional medicine. Hong and colleagues note that A. rugosa is used in traditional medicine for anxiety, cholera, diarrhea, fever and nausea.¹ That records a tradition. It isn’t evidence that the herb treats any of these, and we found no human trials. We’re not claiming Korean mint treats or prevents any condition.

Estragole. The EU Scientific Committee on Food concluded in 2001 that estragole “has been demonstrated to be genotoxic and carcinogenic.”² That opinion covers estragole in general, including the estragole in tarragon, not Korean mint specifically. Using the herb as a seasoning isn’t the same as taking concentrated oil or extracts, and we found no regulator opinion specific to Korean mint.

Two other claims get passed around: that the flavonoid pachypodol occurs only in this plant and is good for the heart, and that antioxidant activity is highest in the stems. We couldn’t trace either to a source we could open, so we’ve left both out.

Substitutes and comparisons

For the anise side, fresh tarragon is the closest match, since both are rich in estragole.¹² A little anise seed or fennel seed gives you the anise note without the green leafiness. For the minty side, use spearmint or see mint substitutes. Start with less than the recipe’s Korean mint and adjust.

Related pages: mint, types of mint, hyssop, Korean spices and Korean BBQ spices.