What is lemon grass?




Answers:
A pungent herb with culinary, medicinal, and other uses.

Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), a original of India, is widely used in Thai and Vietnamese cooking. Lemon grass is a perennial, which process once you plant it, the grass comes back year after year. Depending on the nouns you live in the plant will progress dormant in the winter. In acerbic climates the plant will need to be potted and wintered indoors. This aromatic herb is used surrounded by Caribbean and many types of Asian cooking and have become very popular surrounded by the United States. Most of the commercial crops for the United States are grown in California and Florida. Lemon grass is also used for medicinal purposes.

Other Names (from theepicentre.com)
French: herbe de citron
German: Zitronengras
Italian: erba di limone
Spanish: hierba de limon
Indian: bhustrina, sera
Indonesian: sere, sereh
Lao: bai mak nao
Malay: serai
Sinhalese: sera
Thai: takrai

Culinary Uses
This is a particularly pungent herb and is normally used surrounded by small amounts. The entire stalk of the grass can be used. The grass blade can be sliced very fine and added to soups. The bulb can be bruised and minced for use contained by a variety of recipe. (See recipes at the bottom of this page).

The flimsy lemon flavor of this grass blends well beside garlic, chilies, and cilantro. The herb is frequently used in curries as resourcefully as in seafood soups. It is also used to spawn tea.

Lemon grass is available in ethnic market such as Asian and Mexican. Select fresh looking stalks that don't look dry or brittle. Store fresh lemon grass in the refrigerator within a tightly sealed plastic sack for up to 3 weeks. You can also freeze it for about 6 months in need any flavor loss.

In addition to fresh, lemon grass may be purchased dried or powdered. The dried product have to be soaked in hot hose and reconstituted before use. The powdered group is useful within teas and curries but it's not a good substitute for the fresh product. For best results surrounded by recipes use the fresh herb.

Medicinal and Other Uses
This grass is rich within a substance called citral, the influential ingredient in lemon trim. This substance is said to aid in digestion as in good health as relieve spasms, muscle cramps, rheumatism and headaches.

Lemon grass is also used commercially as the lemon scent surrounded by many products including soaps, perfume and candles. A related plant, (Cymbopogon nardus) is the ingredient in citronella candles sold to circumvent mosquitoes and other insects.


Other Answers:

Lemon grass is a long thick grass near leaves at the top and a solid portion several inches long at the root end. The lower portion is sliced or pounded and used surrounded by cooking. As a spice, fresh lemon grass is preferred for its vibrant flavour, but is also sold in dried form. The dried spice is available surrounded by several forms: chopped in slices, cut and sifted, powdered, or as an grease can be extracted from the plant.
Source(s):
http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/lemongrs.html

Check out this:

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/med-aro/factsheets/LEMONGRASS.html

It is a woody grass, a bit like rattan, that has a greatly strong taste of lemon and is used contained by asian cooking.

A delicious lemony grass, as the describe suggests. looks like a woody, weak green onion. Makes a wonderful Thai lemongrass soup. The thai use it alot in their cooking, so budge to one of their restaurants if you wanna try alot of it. Oh, also great in tea.

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