How To Use Lemongrass In Culinary, 5 Ways!
Lemongrass is a stalk plant which easily found in a tropical area, especially in the south side of Asia. If you go to most Asian grocery stores, you must see it lay in the fresh herbs area. Asian people usually add lemongrass in their cooking. They know very well how to use lemongrass, so it gives a zesty lemon aroma and flavor.
How to Use Lemongrass in Culinary As Asian Does
Indonesian, Thai, Sri Lanka, Malaysian, Vietnamese, and other Asian dishes use lemongrass in the soup or dessert. Sometimes it is served with spicy food or fresh sour taste. In addition, besides being used in the kitchen, lemongrass is also valued for medicine. There are wide varieties of herbal medicine that contains lemongrass. But in this article, we only discuss how to use lemongrass in Asian dishes. See the tips below:
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Cutting in Small Pieces
You can use the entire part of lemongrass, except for the lower bulb. You must cut that lower part in about 2 inches from the end. After that, the rest is yours, starts from the leaves until the stalk. Cut into small pieces or depend on the dish. Some people cut the stalk in larger pieces and not to be eaten. It is considered for a stronger flavor before serving.
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Discard the Dry Parts
Sometimes you find one or two lemongrasses with dried leaves or stalk. It is okay, just discard that part which usually found at the bottom of the stalk. If the lemongrass is too long placed out of the refrigerator, it is often the inner stalk that gets dried too. Also, trim the root is commonly done until the purple ring appears.
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Refine with Food Processor
The structure of lemongrass is so firm and fibrous. It is better for you to process in a little further using a food processor (or chopper). Or, if you don’t have those machines, just use the pestle and pound it. Do this after you sliced the lemongrass. The thicker slice is sometimes difficult to eat. It makes someone who is enjoying your dish will spit it out of the dish.
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Boil the Lemongrass
As mentioned before, you can use the whole part of the lemongrass. Following this method is usually done by people in making lemongrass tea. But you can also find this in Asian soup. Choose the tougher part and boil it for about 3 to 5 minutes. You can keep the rest for another cooking.
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Looping Leaves into the Rings
This is the other method of how to use lemongrass. When you find the dried lemongrass leaves, try to loop into the rings and hanging them. Once you make a soup or tea, add the rings into the pan or pot. Some people prefer to use dried leaves because it works in a savory broth and tasteless punch.
Thinking on Planting Lemongrass
Although you can store-bought lemongrass, some might want to grow it in the backyard. To do that, it will be better if you can mimic its natural environment, which is a tropical climate. But if it’s hard to do, there are several ways you can do to make this plant survive. Thus, you can get this herb in its fresh condition any time, after knowing how to harvest lemongrass.
Aside from cooking, there are many ways on how to use lemongrass. Because of its benefits, people also use it for its fragrant for aromatherapy and also beauty. Not to mention, it’s beneficial for health.
