Lemongrass, now what?

I hope you enjoy it!

Here is a dish I threw together a while back before leaving town to use up the coconut water in the fridge. Cobia in a coconut broth with shallots, lemongrass and cilantro. Exceeded expectations

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Sold as black salmon in my area, this looks very good. Thxs.

This was very tasty. I added the chile heat to the meatballs and baked off a dozen. I Removed the heat from the dressing instead. Otherwise followed recipe as written. Comforting dish and the lemongrass really shines here. I plan to make this family style for a dinner coming up later this month. Thxs again.

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My whole family is hooked on lemongrass now.

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Itā€™s such a wonderful fragrant aromatic plant.

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Looks fantastic

I threw several tablespoons of chopped lemongrass into some lentils (both red and brown) and quinoa that I cooked with browned onions, coconut milk, veggie Better than Bullion broth, tomato paste, and penang curry paste. Really tasty, esp garnished with green hot sauce, yogurt, cilantro, scallion, and radish!

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That was my other thought. I would just soften is up and then let it sit around the house ā€“ the stuff smells great! I was in Cambodia a few years ago, and whatever the cleaners/housekeeping staff used, it was infused with lemongrass. Each night, our room was so pleasantly clean and fresh smelling when we came back. Iā€™ve been obsessed with finding lemongrass scented room candles and other options since then.

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Each year, I have a massive Lemon Grass plant to harvest, easily 6 feet across. Before frost, I cut out some rooted stalks and put then in small pots to be suitably-sized windowsill ā€œhouse plantsā€.

A lot gets used by gentle simmering in coconut milk, with fresh Kaffir/Thai Lime leaf and Galanga, all home-grown. Once the milk is infused with the flavors, it gets poured, through a strainer, onto simmering curry paste, in a wok, to created the base curry stock. Yummy, but thereā€™s too much to use. So, Iā€™ve experimented, over the years, with storing, preserving, etc. Here are some observations:

Regardless of how you store it, thereā€™s a small, tender core inside the base of each stalk. Youā€™d expect it to taste good, but it tastes terrible to anyone Iā€™ve given it to. So, I split the base, expose the triangular core and pop it out. Donā€™t need it. Any part below that core tastes pretty bad, too.

Freezing works, but Lemon Grass loses itā€™s flavor over time. If you can vacuum seal, then freeze, it will keep much better. Since I infuse large chunks to strain out later, I cut the peeled stalks to about 5 inches long.

Unlike Thai Lime leaf, which makes a great tincture, if done correctly, Lemon Grass tincture (Vodka extract) degrades quickly into an awful dark-colored liquid thatā€™s only suitable for starting fires.

The latest experiment was freeze drying. Stalks were peeled, cut into 5-6 inch lengths, split lengthwise and had the core removed. Once freeze dried, they were sealed in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbing packets(non-toxic iron based). Only time will tell if this method is worth it. Iā€™m hoping for a long-term storage solution that lasts longer than freezing. They tasted good right out of the freeze drier, but thatā€™s only an encouraging sign.

What I havenā€™t tried is blanching, then freezing or drying. That may be important if enzymes, within the stalks, slowly degrade the flavor. I had vacuum-sealed, frozen stalks that were pretty tasteless after 2 years in the deep freezer. Blanching might help.

Iā€™m going to stick with using fresh lemongrass. Frozen changed the texture and diluted the flavor. Now that I have found a source for fresh, my sister and I plan to share small bundles sold. Lemongrass made into tea is worth buying fresh stalks

Very helpful info on properly trimming the most enjoyable parts.

Yes, indeed. Thatā€™s why Iā€™m wondering about blanching, or even microwaving. Enzymes are notorious for degrading frozen products, but theyā€™re deactivated (denatured) with heat. Donā€™t know until itā€™s tried.

Fresh is better in most cases with food. But obviously if you need to freeze, frozen is better than none

Made a big pot of lemongrass tea today. Voted, came home brewed a batch and enjoyed a couple of steamed dumplings.