Lemon grass is widely used as an herb in Asian (particularly Vietnamese, Hmong, Khmer, Thai, Lao, Malaysian, Indonesian, Philippine, Sri Lankan) and Caribbean cooking. It has a citrus flavour and can be dried and powdered, or used fresh. The stalk itself is too hard to be eaten except for the soft inner part. However, it can be finely sliced and added to recipes. Thai Tom Yum Soup is a very popular dish in Thailand, ingredients of which include thickly cut stalks of lemongrass which give it a very distinct strong flavour. It is also sometimes 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.[1]
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, DR Congo).
East-Indian Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon flexuosus), also called Cochin Grass or Malabar Grass, is native to Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Burma,and Thailand while the 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, C. citratus is more suited for cooking. In India C. citratus is used both as a medical herb and in perfumes.
Lemongrass can also be grown at home by leaving the stalks bought from the market in a small pot of water for two weeks. As soon as little white roots grow, it can be moved to soil.
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With regards,
J.M.Garg
"We often ignore the beauty around us"
For learning about our trees & plants, please visit/ join Google e-group (Indiantreepix) http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix?hl=en
For my Birds, Butterflies, Trees, Landscape pictures etc., visit http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/J.M.Garg
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