I do take off the outter leaves and I do use only the middle portion (no leaf tips, no leaf bases).

When you process it in the machine, it gets small enough to handle. Cooking makes it more so.

Joe

Thanks, Joe. I did what you said and adjusted the recipe a bit. I boiled the lemon grass first and added it and the water to the blender. There's no way I could puree that without a little water... It's simmering on the stove now to reduce. Tastes great and there are no tough bits.

Thank you.

If chopping by hand, it helps to give it a sharp whack or two with the flat edge of a broad knife - much as you do to garlic before peeling it. This helps to soften the fibres. A food processor will chop it for you much more easily, of course.

The other thing you can do is to leave the stalk whole (perhaps cut in half), and remove it before serving - as you would a bay leaf. If you do this, a small amount of the green leaf can be included. It has a similar flavour, but milder. Just remove the roots, if any, and the root end.

Yes, such take off the outer layer - as you would an onion. A vege peeler is handy for the job, but it comes off fairly easily with a knife.

If any of the stalks have roots or even a fairly intact root end, and your climate is right (it's a tropical plant), plant one of them. You'll have a large clump of lemongrass before you can blink (almost).

Thanks, Daisy.

That's good to know about replanting the base. I just cut the stalk off at ground level. Next time I'll try pulling it up, instead...

I also use the leaf portion, and finely chopped with the food processor too. I normally process a batch of it and freeze them in a glass jar. later, just use as needed.

Since these 3 ingredients go well together: Lemon grass, ginger and kafir leaves, I normally process them altogether. If you don't have kafir leaves, you can substitute with lemon/lime zest.

ntt hou, do you ever use kafir slivered in dishes? I had a dish at a very authentic Thai restaurant once that had slivers of it in it. They were very tender and the dish was delicious. Recipes that I've seen always say to use it like a bay leaf and take it out.

I do have a kafir growing in a pot. He's still really small but I'm looking forward to using the leaves some day.

Thanks for the tip about processing them all together.

Yes, I do. Kafir leaves are edible. I too, have a small tree. If I eat them fresh, I would pick the young leaves. They're softer.

One of our simple Vietnamese dish is boiled fresh chicken, cut in small pieces and sprinkle sliced kafir leaves on top. Then, the chicken is dipped in a ginger fish sauce.

You can also sprinkle sliced kafir leaves on your salad to add more lemony flavor.

That mixture of lemon grass, ginger, kafir leaves, I often use them in curry chicken and to marinate fish and pork loin.

Thanks again. I'm going to try that pork loin.