Lemon grass is a cornerstone ingredient in many southeast Asian recipes. This culinary grass lends a refreshing, verdant quality to a range of dishes and is readily available in Asian grocery stores. A perennial in tropical climates, lemon grass also can be grown as an annual here in Illinois and can overwinter well indoors in a container when placed in a sunny windowsill. It's a particularly fast-growing plant and can quickly grow over 3 feet tall when planted in the ground.
When ready to harvest, twist or cut the stems off at ground level. Ideally, stems would be about ½-inch thick, but thinner stems from younger plants can be used also. Many recipes call for simmering a whole stem, lightly crushed, and then removing it much like you would a cinnamon stick. To use minced lemon grass in a recipe, peel back the tough outer layers to reveal the more tender core before mincing it very finely with a sharp knife. Most recipes use the base of the lemon grass stem, but the green top can be simmered in water to make a rejuvenating tea or used to make lemon grass infused simple syrup, perfect for mixing with seltzer and lime or in a wide array of cocktails from gimlets to Tom Collins to a Vietnamese-inspired French 75.
Grilled lemon grass beef
This recipe for grilled lemon grass beef skewers was adapted from Andrea Nguyen's stunning cookbook, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors. Nguyen, one of my favorite authors, fled Vietnam with her family during the fall of Saigon in 1975 and eventually settled in southern California. A James Beard award winner and author of several books, Nguyen has a special talent for adapting the recipes of her birthplace for American cooks without dumbing them down.
This lemon grass marinade recipe is traditionally combined with thinly sliced beef but over the years I've taken to using it with just about everything from chicken to shrimp to vegetables. Perfect as a light appetizer or as a building block for countless dishes, the sweet-salty grilled meat is delicious when rolled up into a fresh spring roll or piled on top of a bowl of cool rice noodles and thinly sliced vegetables and served with a squeeze of lime and a drizzle of punchy lime-driven dressing.
¼ cup chopped shallot or red onion
1 teaspoon brown sugar
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 heaping teaspoon shrimp paste (optional, can be found at Asian markets)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons canola oil
¼ cup finely minced lemon grass
2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1 pound thinly sliced steak or protein of your choice (chicken wings or sliced thighs, pork loin, tofu or even sliced vegetables such as zucchini or eggplant are delicious options)
Dipping sauce to serve (recipe below), or hoisin sauce
Combine the shallot, brown sugar, pepper, shrimp paste, fish sauce, canola oil and lemon grass in a blender and puree. Add the toasted sesame seeds and mix to combine. Pour the marinade over your chosen protein and mix well to ensure everything is evenly coated with the marinade. Cover and let marinate at room temperature for one hour. Alternatively, the marinated meat can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Remove it from the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to cooking.
When ready to cook, skewer the meat if desired onto bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water for about 30 minutes to prevent them from burning. Heat a grill to medium. You should only be able to hold your hand about 4 inches away from the grill grate for 5 seconds. They can also be broiled in the oven on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Grill or broil for about three minutes on each side for skewers. Chicken wings will take closer to 25 minutes, turning them frequently so they cook evenly, until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and sauce on the side for dipping.
Dipping sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup each rice wine vinegar and lime juice
¼ cup fish sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 red hot chili, such as bird chili, minced, or ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (to taste)
½ cup water, to taste
Combine the above ingredients in a jar and mix well. Let sit for at least 15 minutes for flavors to meld.
Lemon grass simple syrup
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
¼ cup water
2 stalks lemon grass, roughly chopped (green parts are ok)
Combine all the above ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Strain the syrup through a fine meshed sieve into a jar. Add a stalk of lemon grass to the jar if desired before covering and storing in the refrigerator.
Lemon grass, melon and lime sorbet
¾ cup lemon grass simple syrup
One medium melon such as honeydew or cantaloupe (about 2 ½ pounds)
Zest and juice of one lime
Remove the melon rind, scoop out the seeds and cut it into rough chunks. Puree the cut melon in a blender to yield about 3 cups (add leftovers to smoothies or a glass of sparkling wine or seltzer for a summery brunch cocktail). Add the lime zest, juice and simple syrup, then transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Alternatively, you can freeze the sorbet in a round metal cake pan, removing it from the freezer every 15 minutes to stir it, making sure to thoroughly scrape the sides each time. Once frozen, pack the sorbet into a freezer safe container and press a sheet of plastic wrap over the top before returning to the freezer to firm up before serving, about four hours.