Angele Ryan on sun 31 dec 06

with
Lemongrass. It's usually the soft inner parts of the leaves that are used.

I've been going through some of my old saved messages and came across this
one. Can someone explain what exactly is meant by the 'soft inner part' of
the lemongrass leaf? It's papery thin, and I don't see any soft inner part?
What am I missing? I've been adding the leaves as is as part of a tea
mixture, but would like to expand my repertoire of lemongrass use.

Thanks, and Happy New Year,
Angele

Fran Bott on mon 1 jan 07

If you go to the base of the plant and then towards the center, you will fi=
nd more tender pieces - think of a stalk of celery where the heart is.

Fran

chryse74 on tue 2 jan 07

Yes, Fran is right, you will find the soft parts in the younger leaves towa=
rds the base.
Those are the best for cooking.

aileen

--- In herbgardening@yahoogroups.com, Fran Bott wrote:

> If you go to the base of the plant and then towards the center, you will =
find more tender
pieces - think of a stalk of celery where the heart is.

Angele Ryan on thu 4 jan 07

Yes, Fran is right, you will find the soft parts in the younger leaves
towards the base.
Those are the best for cooking.

But doesn't that require disruption of the base (and possibly the roots) or
the plant? What I've been doing is using all the plant parts for tea as part
of a mixture. I've never cooked with this herb although I've tasted it in
soups in Thai restaurants. Yum.

Angele

chryse74 on thu 4 jan 07

I guess I didn't write that very clearly. It'd been a while since I
read the actual entry and remembered incorrectly that "tender" =3D
"younger" Here's the actual info:

From The Bountiful Container by McGee and Stuckey

"...harvest mature stems, and trim away greenery from above and roots
from below. Peel away the outer layers on the remaining base until you
get to the tender white heart, which is the part used in cooking. "

sorry about that.

aileen

Dori on fri 5 jan 07

I am new to this group but Love to use Lemon Gress in cooking

The stems I've dried that are too tough I steep with enough boiling
water to cover - I use a small plate to weigh it down. I leave it
overnight - strain off solids and use liquid as soup or in rice water.=20
Adds wonderful depth to soup stocks .

Dori
aka Professor Sprout