thanks a lot - so many recipies! A good idea is to use it as a substitute of chewing gum it'll try.
Well I do not run marathon, but for a cold winter bath I will try it.

Oooh!!!! Make Thai coconut chicken..... you must! :) Get some chopped chicken/ chicken breasts etc. brown lightly in a little oil. sautee some chopped green onions as well. Then pour coconut (not the sweetened stuff) (it comes in cans) milk over the chicken/add onions etc. add the bottoms (mainly) of the lemon grass chopped and stew untill the chicken is tender. You can also add some green chilies (at beginning) if you like hot. Near end toss in a good handful of chopped cilantro. Serve by itself or over/ beside plain rice or other (jasmine etc.) (I've even used yellow/saffron rice with success) .... I suppose there are other "sides" you could pair it with? Maybe rice noodles? Anyway..... SOOOOO good..... try it. Cheap and easy. :)

One of the easiest recipes is rice with coconut milk and lemongrass. You cook a cup of rice in a can of coconut milk with about a 6-inch sprig of lemongrass, two bay leaves and some turmeric. It's heaven. Toss out the lemongrass and bay leaves before you serve it.

Is it a perennial?

Yes. And in the right climate it can get very big.

Hmmmmm...can anypart of it be dried for winter use..bath? food? Or if you freeze it...just the white part? blanch it first?

I am growing a clump this year and do not think I will have enough room in the winter for the entire pot...so just thinking ahead.

Any part of the plant from the ground up can be used. Most people just use the white part, and that is best frozen - up to you whether to leave whole, or chop. The leaves can be tied up into bundles and frozen, or chopped first. If in bundles, then you'd take one out to use in your bath, or to plop into a stirfry to add flavour before removing it. I've never tried drying the leaves, but I daresay they'd be OK. You'd probably want to grind them to a powder in your food processor once dried. They are probably very fibrous. The white bits have a stronger flavour than the leaves.

Why not experiment a little? I suggest digging up most of it, and freezing the bits you want, and leaving the rest in a smaller pot, to be transplanted come spring. You only need a single piece with roots on it to start up a whole new plant. You could plant several of them into several smaller pots. Keep warm, but don't overwater them in the winter. Gradually increase watering once the plants show signs of growing.

To overwinter in harsh climates, lift in early autumn, pot up and grow through the winter in a greenhouse with a minimum winter temperature of 7C. Keep well watered throughout the summer, just moist through the winter. In very cold climates, plant them in containers filled with loam, leaf mould and sand and place in a sunny corner protected from cold winds. Bring them inside during the winter. Plants may die down a little in cold climates. It may be necessary to mulch the roots, especially if temperatures drop below 13C.

Here in the subtropics, night temps occasionally drop as low as 6C at night, but it doesn't bother my lemongrass, which just keeps powering on at a rate of knots!! I now keep mine in a pot, and I have to repot at least twice a year or it would burst the pot. In my tiny garden, it dwarfed everything else when left to its own devices. I ended up dumping a trailer-load of it! You cut it, it grows, you cut it, it grows.

fert1, when I grew lemongrass in south carolina it didn't make it through the six weeks of winter we used to have. I always considered it an annual. Maybe if you mulch it. But it is worth growing.

Quite a lot of uses! There are different types of lemongrass, mine hasn't got the thick white stalks at the bottom. it is 2 meters high and looks quite nice. At the moment it flowers. I don't know if I should cut it down afterward? I will try to chew it right away, because my tooth are not good at all. Perhaps a strong infusion could be used in cosmetic preparation? I will try to sow some of the seeds as well.
It's really a handy plant: useful, no watering, no fertilizing and nice to look. At least here there is no use to dry lemongrass, I pick it when I need it.

Oh, I used to grow it when I lived in South FL and it got HUGE. Wonderful lemon scent and flavor! I miss growing it now that I'm too far north. . .Maybe if I can find some at the farmer's market I will try to overwinter in a pot as suggested.

Hello, reviving an old post because I'd like to try these recipes but I have a question.

My lemongrass is along the retaining wall along my backyard right in contact with my lawn. Do the chemicals we use to treat insects and fertilize the lawn effect whether or not my lemongrass is edible? I want to cook with it but I am worried that it isn't safe.

TIA for any info or advice,

Nat

Nat,

I wouldn't eat any herbs that have been treated with chemicals to get rid of insects. The only thing that I use occasionally on my herbs is a sea weed-fish emulsion feed.

I grow lemongrass here in south Texas as a year round clump of "grass". Lots of people grow pampas grass and other ornamental grasses for landscaping, but I like lemongrass the best because it looks good, and it is a culinary herb. Mine grow to about 5' and will put out flowers every year. I have a large yard, and I have two planted up against the fence. I also have several growing in pots in my greenhouse. They make nice presents for my "herbie friends"!

Here are some more recipes that I have picked up here and there. I just can't remember where here and there came from.

TOM KA GAI
(Chicken coconut soup)
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup chicken broth
3 to 4 thin slices galangal root (some recipes substitute ginger, but others say absolutely do not substitute)
3 kefir (kaffir) lime leaves
1 stalk lemongrass, lower portion cut into 1-inch lengths and crushed
6 straw mushrooms
4 ounces chopped chicken
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons lime juice
Cilantro
Ground chili powder (optional)
In saucepan, combine coconut milk, chicken broth, galangal, kefir lime leaves, lemongrass and straw mushrooms and heat over medium until boiling. Add chicken; simmer about 2 minutes, or until chicken is cooked. Mix in sugar, salt and lime juice. Garnish with cilantro. If desired, add ground chili powder to achieve desired spiciness. Makes 2 servings.

THAI TURKEY SAUSAGE
From Sunset
Perfect for campouts, you can cook up a big batch of patties at home and freeze. Heat them in camp for a great breakfast with eggs or hash-browns (Wilderness Cuisine author Carole Latimer uses sweet potatoes), tangerine juice, and papaya wedges.
Notes: It's easiest to mince lemon grass in a food processor or minichopper. For best texture, mince the remaining ingredients with a knife.
1 pound ground turkey
1/4 pound green beans, ends and strings removed, minced
8 green onions, ends trimmed, minced
1 stalk (5 to 8 in.) fresh lemon grass, tough outer layers, stem end, and coarse leaves removed, minced
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 to 3 teaspoons fresh serrano chilies (2 or 3), stemmed, seeded, and finely minced
2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam pla)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon sugar
About 2 tablespoons olive oil
1. At home: Mix turkey well with beans, onions, lemon grass, cilantro, chilies (lesser amount for mildest flavor), fish sauce, egg, cornstarch, and sugar. Divide into 16 equal portions and shape into 16 patties, each 1/2 inch thick.
2. Pour oil into a 10- to 12-inch nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add a few patties, without crowding. Cook until brown on each side and no longer pink in center (cut to test), about 7 minutes total. Remove as cooked and drain on paper towels; add more patties to pan.
3. When patties are cool, freeze in a single layer in a metal pan until hard, then seal airtight in plastic freezer bags. Transport in an insulated chest.
4. In camp: Place frozen patties in a 9- to 10-inch nonstick frying pan over low heat, cover, and cook until warm, 3 to 5 minutes; turn at least once.
Nutritional analysis per patty.
Yield: Makes 16 patties; 8 servings
NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 73(53% from fat); FAT 4.3g(sat 0.9g); PROTEIN 5.9g; CHOLESTEROL 34mg; SODIUM 107mg; FIBER 0.3g; CARBOHYDRATE 2.4g

HOT AND SOUR SOUP
6-1/2 cups chicken stock
1 heaping tablespoon tom yam hot and sour paste
4 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped (optional)
1 stick lemongrass, tender inner part only, roughly chopped
juice of 1 lime
4 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
2-3 small jalapenos or fresh red or green chilies, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1-1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons straw or button mushrooms, halved or quartered according to size
1 pound 2 ounces peeled raw shrimp, thawed if frozen
5 small scallions, cut into short lengths and then into strips
small bunch cilantro, chopped
Heat the stock and tom yam paste in a decent-sized saucepan with the lime leaves, lemongrass, lime juice, fish sauce, chilies and sugar. Bring to a boil, add the mushrooms and simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the shrimp and scallions and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, or until the shrimp are cooked but still tender. Sprinkle with a little cilantro and put more on the table for people to add themselves as they want.
Serves 4-6.

LEMONGRASS CHICKEN (2)
1kg whole chicken
1 1/4 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
6-8 lemongrass leaves, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon cornflour
milk
Place the chicken on a saucer in a saucepan. Add the water, sprinkle salt and pepper over and heap the lemongrass onto the breast. Cover and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, basting occasionally with the liquid. To eat hot, remove chicken and keep warm. Strain the liquid into a small saucepan and stir in a tablespoon cornflour blended to a smooth paste with a little milk. Stir until thickened and pour over the chicken. To eat the chicken cold, put it into a deep bowl and pour the strained liquid over it. Cool, then chill overnight. The liquid will have jelled and there will be a layer of fat which should be removed.

LEMONGRASS COCONUT SORBET
10 stalks lemongrass
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup coconut milk (stir before measuring)
Peel the tough outer layers from the lemongrass and discard them. Cut the remainder into 1cm lengths. In a saucepan over high heat, combine lemongrass, sugar, salt and 2 cups water. Stir until liquid comes to the boil. Reduce heat, simmer, stirring occasionally, until light golden, about 20 minutes. Pour through a fine strainer, pressing on the solids to extract moisture. Discard solids. Place the bowl in a larger bowl of ice water and stir syrup until cool, about 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. Whisk in the coconut milk. If mixture is lumpy, pour through a fine strainer. Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze. Or freeze in a suitable dish until just firm , 2-4 hours. Scoop into bowls, or scrape with a large form to form a slushy ice. Serve immediately.

TOMATO LEMONGRASS SALSA
2 stalks lemongrass
2 green or red chilles, finely chopped
1 large tomato, coarsely diced
1 small red onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
salt
Combine all ingredients and let sit at room temperature for about one hour, then refrigerate. Use within one day.

LEMONGRASS SYLLABUB
4 stems lemongrass, chopped finely
20g chopped fresh ginger
120g castor sugar
200ml water
300ml thickened cream
1 tablespoon brandy
2 tablespoons lime juice
Place the lemongrass, ginger, castor sugar and water in a saucepan, stir over heat until sugar has dissolved. Boil for 10 minutes, then leave to cool. Strain. May be stored in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. Delicious spooned over ice cream. To make the syllabub, add the syrup, brandy, and lime juice to the cream and whisk together until soft peaks form. Serve in glass dishes with a few gratings of lime zest if desired.
The syllabub can also be used as a filling for Pavlova. Fill a pavlova case with the syllabub, sprinkle over some cubed mango. Sweeten some passionfruit pulp with a little sugar, then drizzle over the mango.

KAFFIR LIME AND CHICKEN STIRFRY
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
3-4 Kaffir lime leaves
3-4 chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup coconut cream
1-2 tablespoons fish sauce
juice of 1 lime
1 cup chopped pineapple
chopped coriander or parsley to garnish
Fry onions until lightly browned, remove from pan. Stirfry curry paste and Kaffir lime leaves together over high heat for 1-2 minutes. Add chicken, fry for 1-2 minutes. Add coconut cream, fish sauce, lime juice and onions. Add enough water to barely cover the mixture, simmer for about 10 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Add pineapple, simmer a further 2-3 minutes. Serve on a bed of boiled rice and garnish with coriander.

KAFFIR LIME AND GINGER MELON SALAD
1/2 red pawpaw
1/2 honeydew melon
1/2 yellow rockmelon
3 fresh kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup castor sugar
2 tablespoons julienned fresh ginger
juice of one lime
6 kaffir lime leaves, roughly torn
Greek yoghurt to serve.
Combine water, sugar, ginger and lime leaves in a saucepan, heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove leaves, set aside to cool. Peel and slice melons into wedges of the same size. Place in a serving bowl and drizzle the syrup over the fruit. Garnish with shredded kaffir leaves and serve with chilled yoghurt.

THAI CHICKEN AND LEMONGRASS SOUP
From the Frugal Gourmet
6 cups chicken stock
4 slices dried galangal root
1 slice fresh ginger, the size of a quarter
2 cloves garlic, peeled & sliced
3 shallots, peeled and sliced
7 dried kaffir lime leaves
3 stalks lemongrass, peeled and the bottom 5 inches chopped
1 tsp Thai red curry paste
1 tbls sugar
1 14 oz. can coconut milk
3 tbls Thai fish sauce
3/4 lb. thinly sliced skinless and boneless chicken breasts
2 small jalapeno peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
2 tbls freshly squeezed lime juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh coriander for garnish.
Place chicken stock in 6 quart kettle and add the galangal root, ginger, garlic, shallots, lime leaves, lemongrass and red curry paste. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Drain the stock and discard the solids.
Return the stock to the pot, add the sugar, coconut milk and fish sauce and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken and bring to a simmer again. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except garnish and bring to serving temperature. Garnish with fresh coriander if you wish.
Note: many Thai cooks prefer to leave the solids in the soup stock and do not drain it at all. This gives a bit brighter flavor, if you wish.

Linda

Vietnamese food has a lot of lemon grass, I know it's not as sexy as Thai, but I love it... and Mienh sausage! YUM!

Wow! What a lot of delicious-looking recipes in this thread!

I have been going through the old lemongrass threads to find more information on lemongrass culture, and found this one...

Mmmmmm......hungry....must go to the Thai restaurant....

Thanks for bumping this one. It does have some good looking recipes!

FataMorgana

I am a new Lemon GHrass fan. I have already started several from store-bough ones. They are growing nicely, despite the unseasonably cool spring here in North Atlanta, Ga area.

For the winter I will chop and freez as muh as much I can and burry some clumps deeper in the ground (well drained medium, protected from loging) and also will keep one small pot indoors (semi-dormant).
Worse comes to worse, I can do it all over again next spring, from srore-bought clumps. The good thing is that I already know how how to do it. Thanks to internet contributors for my knowledge, here in GW, Asian Vegetables.

those recipes do look good!

an easy way to use lemongrass is to heat a few crushed stalks in some rice vinegar and let it steep. Turns the vinegar a pretty blush pink. the flavored vinegar can be used in salad dressings or pickled veg/cucumbers (namasu).

Can't wait to try some in the bath.