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The story
An article explaining that some people perceive cilantro’s distinctive smell as “soap” or “stink bugs” — not a matter of picky eating, but a genetic difference in olfactory receptors — became a hot topic on 5ch’s News Express+ board. The thread saw comments like “I always thought people who liked cilantro were the weird ones, but now that I know it’s about receptor differences, it makes sense,” along with back-and-forth over the herb’s various names — coriander, xiangcai (Chinese parsley), and so on. The discussion expanded into other genetically-rooted differences in taste and smell, like whether or not someone can smell asparagus in their own urine, with some posters noting the article itself was hard to follow.
If you’ve ever seen someone painstakingly picking every last leaf of cilantro (also called coriander, or xiangcai) out of their food, you might assume they’re just an extremely picky eater. But in many cases, that’s not actually what’s going on.
People who do this often have a sense of smell that works on a different mechanism than most people’s — and the explanation comes down to a fairly basic piece of biology.
(snip)
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
I don't get this at all.
Some people really perceive cilantro as smelling like soap?
Yeah, exactly.
Which is why anyone who force-feeds people cilantro is the worst.
Exactly why I can't eat it.
Nobody actually enjoys eating soap.
It's coriander, or xiangcai (Chinese parsley).
No need to go out of your way to use the Thai word for it.
Just use the Japanese name or the English one.
'Stink bug grass.'
Xiangcai.
Coriander.
It's not about being 'a bit much' — on a genetic level, cilantro literally smells like stink bugs to some people.
Honestly, I always figured people who could eat cilantro were the crazy ones, but learning it's a receptor difference actually makes sense of it.
I've felt that way forever, honestly.
Just never said it around people who love cilantro.
Once I found a live caterpillar wriggling around in mine — been washing it thoroughly ever since lol.
Had an AI summarize it for me, and apparently the takeaway is "hating cilantro isn't picky eating, it's genetic."
Totally useless, pointless article.
You could've gotten that much just from the thread title.
Fun fact apparently: the Japanese name for cilantro literally means "stink bug grass" 🧐
Isn't it 'koendoro' (an old Japanese name for coriander)? That sounds like a nickname.
It smells like the runoff from garbage at a dump.
Can't do it.
Fish sauce is a no for me too — I'm amazed anyone can eat that stuff.
I gave both cilantro and fish sauce a real shot, following recipes properly, but ended up realizing I just can't.
Same with durian — it's sweet and great while you're eating it, but afterward your mouth smells like you ate something rotten. That got me good.
A friend tricked me into trying it and laughed at me afterward.
I feel like Bolognese without celery is missing something, though.
I actually grew to like celery once I hit adulthood.
Well, cooked into a stew it's still manageable.
Eating it raw and crunchy, though — hard pass.
Everyone's pee smells distinctly of asparagus after eating asparagus, right?
And acesulfame K just tastes bad, period.
That's what everyone says.
Apparently not everyone can actually smell that. I recall a study saying it's something like 1 in 4 people.
I heard that being able to smell your pee after eating asparagus comes down to genetics too.
What about bananas tasting like rubber cement glue?
Drinking sweet, cold mint tea on the sand on a hot summer day is the best.
Some Algerian guys brought it to a beach in the south of France once — perfect drink for a summer day by the sea.
Wasn't there something about locals laughing at Japanese people for piling it on by the handful?
Ground coriander used as a spice doesn't bother me at all, though.
Coriander powder comes from the seeds.
Thai curry uses the root.
Spices are weird, huh.
Cooking's basically chemistry. Re: #115
Oh, coriander's the seed? That explains why it doesn't bother me.
I don't even remember what stink bugs smell like, but I hate the smell of cilantro enough that I can't eat gapao rice (Thai basil pork over rice).
Gapao uses holy basil, not coriander, lol.
Fuuchibaa jushii (Okinawan mugwort rice) is so good though.
If you hate cilantro, try to recall whether you actually like cinnamon.
I like cinnamon.
Isn't that basically 'nikke' (cassia bark)?
Pepsi Cola smells like cinnamon to me.
I hate cilantro but I'm actually a big fan of cinnamon.
Though if it's as strong as those 'nikki' cinnamon candies, that's too much for me.
I love cinnamon in cinnamon rolls and apple pie, but outside of that I'm not really that into it.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The idea that cilantro-haters perceive the smell as “soap” or “stink bugs” is backed by overseas research linking it to genetic variation in olfactory receptors — meaning it isn’t simple pickiness but an actual difference in perception, which is the core point of the article. The thread ran with this, bringing up other examples of genetically-explained differences in taste and smell, such as whether someone can detect the smell of asparagus in their own urine, or whether they taste bitterness in the artificial sweetener acesulfame K. At the same time, the claim that “cilantro-haters must also hate cinnamon” is just a hunch based on posters’ personal experience in the thread — it isn’t backed by the article or by any actual research, which readers could easily mistake for fact. Also, the different names — coriander, xiangcai (Chinese parsley), and so on — tie into the fact that how the smell is perceived can shift depending on which part of the plant (leaf, stem, or seed) is used and how it’s prepared, not simply a matter of preferred terminology.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “[Likes/Dislikes] People Who Perceive Cilantro as “Soap or Stink Bugs” vs. Those Who Don’t — the Genetic Mechanism Behind It.”
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