Lemongrass is a tropical plant used as an aromatic and medicinal herb in many Asian, Caribbean, and African cuisines. It has a delicate lemon fragrance, and it adds an essential authentic note to curries and soups. It also makes a fresh, tangy herbal tea, which supposedly helps cure headaches and the flu.
And yet it's one herb that I never seem to have around when I want to use it. I buy a few stalks, use one or two, then the rest dry out.
But I live in Florida, and lemongrass grows wild here. I realized that an enormous bush threatening to engulf my friend's front entrance was actually lemongrass - the size camouflaged it to my eyes, used to seeing small slender stalks. The blades grew taller than my head and spread out for a yard on either side.
My friend gave me a few stalks and told me to just stick them in a pot of dirt. I did, and now I have a little lemongrass plant! The new stalks are even tenderer than the full-grown grass, which makes them easier to chop and bruise for cooking. I leave my plant outside, since it's still warm and sunny, but I have no reason to think you couldn't grow this inside.
Lemongrass is really a weed; to grow it yourself all you need to do is take a couple stalks from the store and stick them rootside down in some moist potting soil. Use a fairly large pot; the grass will eventually take over any space you give it. Water frequently and leave in a warm sunny spot. In a week or two you will see new green growth, and the grass will reseed itself so eventually you will have a full pot of lemongrass.
• At 101 Cookbooks: Nigel Slater's Luxurious and Deeply Aromatic Noodle Dish, the recipe that got me hooked on lemongrass.
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You can always freeze the stalks -- and many stores sell those little tubes of lemongrass paste (can't remeber the brand, but they also do ginger, garlic, etc.), which keeps for a long time in the fridge. I use this a lot to make my fast version of Vietnamese noodle soup, along with whatever fresh herbs I've got growing. If you use the paste you don't have to do any chopping!
You can wash, dry and cut the stalks and leave them uncovered in the fridge. They dry out nicely, and you can use them for weeks and weeks thereafter with no loss of flavour. Lemongrass can also be used in tea, with fresh basil or without, and can keep runny noses in winter in check.
Vietnamese markets actually sell chopped and frozen tubs of lemongrass, which is great for marinading meat before you grill it. So, if you don't have a Vietnamese market, you could do the same. Put it in an old container or Ziploc Tupperware thing. I always freeze mine for soup, too by chopping it into 3-inch lengths.
OMG! My lemongrass is outta control! It's sprung up in other pots in my potted garden. I can't use it enough! Sometimes i pull stalks just to use as a cat toy! I can't even neglect it enough - it's CRAZY!
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