Lemongrass (cymbopogon citratus) resembles a scallion (green onion) or leek, but it is a fibrous perennial grass native to India and grown in tropical regions all over the world. It's commonly used in Thai cuisine, and it also has numerous health and medicinal benefits. You can buy it mainly in Asian food markets and in some commercial grocery store chains.
Buy and Store
Lemongrass is usually sold in the fresh-produce section. Select stalks that are fresh, green and firm. Don't buy them if they're brown, dry or soft. In Chinese/Asian markets they're also found in the frozen vegetable section as well as in the fresh vegetable section. If you don't use fresh lemongrass immediately, wrap it in a plastic bag and store it in the refrigerator vegetable bin for as long as three weeks, or freeze it in a sealed container. It freezes well for up to six months. If fresh lemongrass isn't available, substitute 1 tbsp. dried lemongrass for one stalk and soak it in warm water for about two hours before using it.
Culinary Uses
Besides being a mainstay of Thai cuisine, lemongrass is also featured in Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Malaysian and Sri-Lankan cuisines. It's delicious in chicken and seafood dishes, soups, stews and casseroles.
Prepare Fresh Lemongrass for Cooking
Remove the outer leaves until you get to the light yellow, almost white stalk. Be sure to use a sharp knife. Smash down on the stalk with the flat end of the knife or meat mallet before slicing it to release the flavor and cut off the lower end. Slice the light part thinly. Reserve the green tops and set aside. Place the sliced light lemongrass in a food processor and pulse for about 30 seconds. It is now ready to be used. Because lemongrass is rather tough, it needs to be boiled for about five minutes before adding it to your dish. The green tops can be used as a garnish or to add extra flavor. Bend the green stalks several times to release their aroma and flavor, slice them and add them to your recipe, but, like a bay leaf, take them out before eating.
Medicinal Uses
Lemongrass is used extensively in Chinese and ayurvedic medicine for headaches, fever, cold and flu symptoms, abdominal pain and stomach ailments, menstrual pain and arthritis. A Thai soup called Tom Yum Gung soup has long been used to repel cold and flu symptoms and studies conducted in Japan and Thailand have found that it inhibits cancerous tumor growth.
Other Types
Other species of lemongrass, cymbopogon nardus and cymbopogon winterianus, have reddish stems and contain the citronella oil used in candles and sprays to repel mosquitoes and other insects. It is also used in some soaps and household cleaners.
Promising New Cancer Research
A research team at Ben Gurion University in Israel concluded in 2006 that citral, the main component of the citratus lemongrass, caused apoptosis (cell death) in malignant cancer cells grown with normal cells in a petri dish. This happened without harm to the surrounding normal cells.
Tags: cold symptoms, fresh lemongrass, green tops, normal cells, Thai cuisine, vegetable section
