If you found out that you had a weed nicknamed 'Fever Grass' growing in your garden, chances are you’d pull it out, toss it and forget it.
But if you found out that you had a spice called Lemongrass – which adds a warm lemon flavor to your meals and drinks, while at the same time clearing toxins from your body and relieving your headache, stress, and many other ailments – chances are good you’d water it.
Call it a weed, but this fever-reducing, sweet, lemony, grassy herb might just be the first weed you plant instead of pull.
Lemongrass is a perennial plant native to tropical Asia, but now commonly grown around the world. Growing in clumps like a weed, each individual stalk of grass consists of a tough, bulbous base growing a few inches into the ground, and shooting up into a blade of dense grass about 1-2 meters long.
The lower portion of the lemongrass plant – the thick stalk and round edible base - is what ends up on the chopping board, and into so many Southeast Asian dishes. To prepare, it is as simple as removing the top blade, peeling off the outer green or dried layers on the stalk, and slicing off the tip of the bulb end. The remaining whitish bulb and stalk can be bruised to release the fragrant oils and then tossed in soups like the famous Thai Tom Yum Kung. Or you can just use the sweeter, less fibrous bulb by chopping it finely and adding to chicken and seafood stir-fries, or combining it with other spices & herbs and pounded into a Malaysian, Indonesian, or Thai curry paste.
Like kaffir lime leaves and other Southeast Asian spices, lemongrass has no substitute. It has a distinctly warm, lemon aroma, but not the sour taste of the fruit. The citrus flavor of lemongrass instead is slightly sweet, and has the familiar, but milder, bite of ginger. The spice complements and balances sharper flavors, which is why it is frequently combined with chili pepper, garlic, galangal, and turmeric.
The soothing fragrance of lemongrass is from its essential oils, notably Citral Oil – an oil also found in lemon peel. The essential oils not only provide the wonderful aroma and taste of lemongrass, but also its innumerable health benefits, such as reducing anxiety and high blood pressure, alleviating muscle aches and menstrual pains, suppressing coughs and colds, and in recent studies, even shown signs of preventing cancers.
Try a cup of lemongrass tea after a meal to aid in digestion and detoxify your body. Or a cup before bed in order to relax and have a good night’s rest.
Lemongrass may be better known outside the kitchen. There are over 50 different species of lemongrass, which includes Cymbopogon citratus (the common herb used in cooking), as well as Cymbopogon nardus and winterianus (the two main sources of Citronella Oil). All lemongrass species have essential oils, which are extracted and used in various products such as mosquito repellents, cosmetics, aromatherapy oils, perfumes, soaps, lotions, and so on.
You can even mix a few drops of lemongrass oil into a mild shampoo to treat greasy hair, or with a facial wash to treat acne.
Lemongrass has endless uses, so it’s best to start at the beginning – in the kitchen. Here are a few recipes to get you started:
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9 comments:
Great post. Informative and interesting with the added bonus of a great recipe and appealing recipe links.
i love lemon grass and the flavor is just so refreshing! Never tried lemon grass tea but the ginger lemon grass .. yummy.
btw thanks for mentioning the wanton soup. It's our fav soup :)
Although Japanese dish doesn't use lemongrass, this is one of my favorite spice! I used to love this lemongrass chicken at this French/Vietnamese restaurant (cooked with curry) and oh my gosh...it's most amazing flavor... I miss every taste of it! All these dishes make my mouth water~~~~!
I've been longing for lemongrass, but there's still none on Croatian markets.
Lovely post with useful recipes
Thanks Tamara, you definitely should open up a spice shop in Croatia to bring all these flavors into the country
Are all types of lemongrass edible? I have some growing in my yard but don't know if it's an edible variety.
That's a good question. The most common type of lemongrass used in cooking is Cymbopogon citratus (West Indian Lemongrass). This is the type of lemongrass you will probably find at your local Asian grocer. Other edible types include Cymbopogon citriodora, Cymbopogon ambiguus, and Cymbopogon flexuosus (East Indian Lemongrass). The other, non-edible types of lemongrass are usually referred to as "Citronella Grass" since they are used to extract the topical oil.
If you are unsure of the exact species of lemongrass growing in your yard, it is best to not consume it. Since lemongrass is a "weed" and easy to grow, we recommend buying a few fresh stalks of West Indian lemongrass from the grocery store, and growing them yourself. We will actually be posting an article soon on Season with Spice about growing your own lemongrass, so stay tuned...
hmm I absolutely looove lemongrass. Will have to try some of the recipes posted here.
Hi Nami, it's an easy spice to incorporate into any cuisine. Would love to see it mixed into some Japanese recipes on Just One Cookbook!
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