In heat climates with loads of solar, lemongrass grows like a weed. Such is the case in my mother’s yard in Los Angeles, the place the fuzzy tropical grass stands over three ft tall. If you end up on this state of affairs, with an armful of aromatic lemongrass, you may ask your self, “What can I do with all of this?” The reply, it seems, is loads of issues.
Take into account Lao’d Bar in Austin, Texas, the place lemongrass makes its means into each the eating room and the drinks menu. “I can’t use sufficient of it at our restaurant,” says chef Bob Somsith, noting that lemongrass is in his recipes for ceviche, lahb, hen curry, sausages, and even sprinkled over his hen wings in powder type. The yum chelada, Somsith’s riff on a michelada, is made with a concentrated tom yum broth that options loads of lemongrass and Thai chiles that each one meld collectively when topped with a lightweight lager.
“Lemongrass gives very citrus-forward notes and spicy notes,” Somsith explains. “When you’ve ever pounded lemongrass and eaten as it’s, it’s spicy!” Somsith recollects lemongrass rising within the yard of his childhood residence, the place his household would thinly slice it and add it to jeows, a broad style of Lao dips, that they’d eat with uncooked greens and sticky rice. Though lemongrass might be loved this manner when it’s correctly ready and thinly sliced, it’s also typically used as a flavoring agent and not meant to be chewed.
“When you don’t slice it correctly, it’s very fibrous and chewy,” Somsith says. Bigger chunks of pounded lemongrass can be utilized in soups, curries, or marinades, and are meant to impart taste moderately than be consumed. That is usually seen in soups like tom yum and tom kha, or curries like gaeng phet. Lemongrass, when simmered in a curry or soup lengthy sufficient, packs a punch — however once more, it isn’t for consuming when it’s used this manner. “We had a buyer complain that our lemongrass is undercooked in our curry, so there’s nonetheless a whole lot of educating to do,” Somsith provides.
When you’ve got an excessive amount of lemongrass to make use of suddenly, there are methods to protect it with out compromising its taste. “I’ll really put it in my meals processor, grind it down, and simply freeze luggage and luggage of it and put it aside for no matter I would like, particularly once we’re making sausages,” Somsith says. “The flavour doesn’t go away too drastically.” Wonderful, shredded lemongrass is ideal for incorporating into dipping sauces, salad dressings, marinades, and even salads.
It’s also possible to dehydrate lemongrass. That’s precisely what Thao Bui does for her Vietnamese herbs model Vân Vân. “[Dehydrating] is how we preserve the flavors and colour intact,” Bui says, noting there is no such thing as a warmth concerned in her firm’s dehydration course of. Dehydrated lemongrass might be added to soups and broths instantly. “It blooms actually rapidly,” Bui says. For grill-related functions, like marinades, Bui suggests utilizing a low temperature whenever you start grilling, as dehydrated lemongrass might burn in any other case.
It’s also possible to flip dehydrated lemongrass right into a powder, both by pounding it finely with a mortar and pestle or throwing it right into a meals processor. The powder is ideal for seasoning proteins earlier than they’re fired, or for ending a dish, as Somsith does along with his hen wings at Lao’d Bar. When you don’t like navigating the harder items of lemongrass, this technique gives that signature zesty taste with out requiring the usage of complete stalks.
Past the yum chelada, you may embrace lemongrass in cocktails by incorporating it right into a syrup. “I exploit one half water and one half sugar with lemongrass and let that syrup soak in a single day,” Bui explains. “You should use the syrup for cocktails and mocktails,” she provides, or just pair it with glowing water for a refreshing and fragrant sip. For one thing even simpler, infuse your favourite vodka or gin by including stalks of lemongrass. When you don’t need to put together a syrup, lemongrass can also be usually loved as tea all through Southeast Asia. To do that at residence, merely steep lemongrass in sizzling water (a squeeze of lemon or teaspoon of honey might be added, too).
Dessert is one other means to make use of lemongrass. Though the plant’s zestiness might sound too intense to make use of in a sweeter utility, its citrus notes pair fantastically with simmered milk to make ice cream. “I even have a good friend who made a lemon bar with lemongrass within the crust and custard,” Bui says. Lemongrass can present complexity to any form of citrus dessert — tarts, truffles, sorbets, and pies can all profit from successful.
And if you wish to develop your personal lemongrass, there are some added advantages, too. “I like rising a whole lot of lemongrass round our bar as a result of it helps preserve mosquitoes away,” Somsith says. As a result of it comprises citronella, lemongrass is understood for being a pure mosquito repellent — and different pest repellent, too. “It additionally retains the deer out of your backyard,” Somsith explains, noting the tropical grass helps to guard his greens from thieving creatures.
In different phrases, lemongrass can do all of it. Simply ask my mother, who’s pounding out a contemporary curry paste with it as I write.
