Ingredient: Lemon grass
Category: Herbs, Spices & Seasoning
Season: All
Lemon grass (Cymbopogon) is a genus of about 55 species of grasses, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Old World and Oceania.
It is a tall perennial grass.
Common names include lemon grass, lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, citronella grass , fever grass or Hierba Luisa amongst many others.
Lemon grass is widely used as a herb in Asian (particularly Vietnamese, Hmong, Khmer, Thai, Lao, Malaysian, Indonesian, Philippine, Sri Lankan) and Caribbean cooking.
It has a citrus flavour can be dried, powdered or used fresh.
Uses
It may be bruised and added whole as this releases the aromatic oils from the juice sacs in the stalk.
The main constituent of lemongrass oil is citral , which makes up around 80% of the total.
Lemon grass is commonly used in teas, soups, and curries.
It is also suitable for poultry, fish, and seafood .
It is often used as a tea in African and Latino-American countries (e.g. Togo, Mexico).
East-Indian Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon flexuosus), also called Cochin Grass or Malabar Grass, is native to Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Burma,and Thailand.
West-Indian lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), also known as serai in Malay, is assumed to have its origins in Malaysia.
While both can be used interchangeably, West-Indian lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), is more suited for cooking.
Lemon grass. has not a lemon flavour, but the strong scent is noticeably citrus.
When you buy lemon grass it looks uninviting but the flavour is sublime. |