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asult316

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Versa whip is tremendously easy to use.  Just add about 1.5% to any liquid and whip it like egg whites.

Does Versawhip work with bases that contain fat?

i cant for the life of me find the kaffir leaves.. is there anything i can use in substitute?

I can't really think of a good substitute for kaffir lime leaves... it's a very specific flavor/aroma.... I know I have seen them online here and there - if you look for Thai groceries online, they have them, but the shipping costs are pretty high... but the nice thing is that stuff like kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lemongrass freeze really well, so you can get a bunch and save it...

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Versa whip is tremendously easy to use.  Just add about 1.5% to any liquid and whip it like egg whites.

Does Versawhip work with bases that contain fat?

i cant for the life of me find the kaffir leaves.. is there anything i can use in substitute?

I can't really think of a good substitute for kaffir lime leaves... it's a very specific flavor/aroma.... I know I have seen them online here and there - if you look for Thai groceries online, they have them, but the shipping costs are pretty high... but the nice thing is that stuff like kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lemongrass freeze really well, so you can get a bunch and save it...

ive tried a bunch of places locally and they didnt have them and i need them for tomorrow but oh well imma have to settle for the coconut milk alone

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Steep some lime zest or lemongrass in (hot?) water and mix with the coconut milk, perhaps add some lime juice. Just foamed coconut milk might be a little too bland?

I assume your soup is cold since it is an gazpacho? Then it might be a bad idea to use coconut milkt at all, since the fat in the coconut milk might go solid and leave a greasy residue in your mouth.

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Yeah, I'd go with lemongrass if you can't find kaffir lime leaves. Not because the flavours are anything alike, but because they're both equally tasty! Then again, if your local Asian groceries don't have lime leaves, I'd be surprised if they had lemongrass. (Keep in mind that lime leaves may be sold in dried form, as well as fresh or frozen.)

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out!

Matthew Kayahara

Kayahara.ca

@mtkayahara

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Yeah, I'd go with lemongrass if you can't find kaffir lime leaves. Not because the flavours are anything alike, but because they're both equally tasty! Then again, if your local Asian groceries don't have lime leaves, I'd be surprised if they had lemongrass. (Keep in mind that lime leaves may be sold in dried form, as well as fresh or frozen.)

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out!

i tried the coconut milk at home and it was definitely too bland alone and it really wasn't aromatic at all, so i think i am going to go with some the lime air from the hydrocollide book. i looked and they didn't have it fresh, frozen or dried.

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Lemongrass would be my second choice after kaffir lime leaves.  Too bad you don't have a few more days...I'd mail you some off the tree in my backyard.

thanks for the offer. do you have lemongrass or the kaffir leaves in your backyard? any who i tried the lime air from the hydrocollide book and it tastes very bitter = \

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I have both lemongrass AND kaffir lime in the backyard. Lemongrass is scented primarily by citral, while kaffir lime is mostly citronellal. So they're similar, but profoundly different odors. It may seem a subtle difference, but if you smelled fresh samples of both items, the differences would leap out at you.

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I have both lemongrass AND kaffir lime in the backyard.  Lemongrass is scented primarily by citral, while kaffir lime is mostly citronellal.  So they're similar, but profoundly different odors.  It may seem a subtle difference, but if you smelled fresh samples of both items, the differences would leap out at you.

hey if you are still offering i would love for you to send me some......i wanna play with it since ive never seen kaffir leaves or limes before for that fact, and since ive been on a wild goose chase looking for them i would love to have a chance to finally get some and see what its all about

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I have both lemongrass AND kaffir lime in the backyard.  Lemongrass is scented primarily by citral, while kaffir lime is mostly citronellal.  So they're similar, but profoundly different odors.  It may seem a subtle difference, but if you smelled fresh samples of both items, the differences would leap out at you.

hey HungryC - I've been trying to grow lemongrass in a sunny windowsill in a NYC apartment, but I'm having a bit of a problem... I planted from seed, and have a few that have sprouted... but it's been weeks, and they're still only 3" tall and look like a single blade of grass... how long does it usually take to grow? Any ideas why mine are growing so slowly? Thanks!

edited for stupidity...

Edited by KennethT (log)
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I can help you Kenneth. I've grown lemongrass from seed and purchased plants. It is SLOW from seed. Even the purchased potted plants grew slowly until the heat of the summer--and then went nuts. Since it is not hardy here, they are all grown in pots which have just been moved in for the winter.

Patience, my friend; patience...

Carlo A. Balistrieri

The Gardens at Turtle Point

Tuxedo Park, NY

BotanicalGardening.com and its BG Blog

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A friend from other worlds (who is apparently a lurker here...) contributes the following:

"The easiest way to quickly grow good-size lemon grass is to buy a bunch

at the grocery store. Place in a glass of water. Those stalks with a

smidgen of the ?what to call it, not bulbous so not a basal plate but

you know what I mean - anyhow, those will start to root. Pot up, and

away be grow. More rapidly in hot weather, of course. Very easy, good

success rate."

This is another way to go...but be aware that not all the lemongrass available in the stores has the "bits" at the base that will lead to roots. Take a close look. If the base looks cut through, you're probably out of luck. If it looks fully rounded at the base (see where I'm going?), you've got a chance of getting the bunch to root....

Carlo A. Balistrieri

The Gardens at Turtle Point

Tuxedo Park, NY

BotanicalGardening.com and its BG Blog

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I can help you Kenneth. I've grown lemongrass from seed and purchased plants. It is SLOW from seed. Even the purchased potted plants grew slowly until the heat of the summer--and then went nuts. Since it is not hardy here, they are all grown in pots which have just been moved in for the winter.

Patience, my friend; patience...

Thanks Carlo - I have no prior lemongrass growing experience, and wasn't sure what to expect... now that I know that it grows slowly, I don't feel like I'm doing anything wrong! I have an extra metal halide plant light that I use for my citrus trees (which are doing great in a manhattan apt. by the way) - so maybe I'll use it for the lemongrass to get it started and see what happens... maybe I can trick it into thinking it's summer... :raz:

edit - one of the reasons I was a bit worried is that my seeds were pretty old - past the expiration date... but I got 3 out of 15 seeds sprouting (and one that looks like it could be a weed, but it's also growing really slowly - but the leaves are a totally different shape) so I guess I was worried that the old seeds may have stunted the plant's growth...

Edited by KennethT (log)
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A friend from other worlds (who is apparently a lurker here...) contributes the following: 

"The easiest way to quickly grow good-size lemon grass is to buy a bunch

at the grocery store. Place in a glass of water. Those stalks with a

smidgen of the ?what to call it, not bulbous so not a basal plate but

you know what I mean - anyhow, those will start to root. Pot up, and

away be grow. More rapidly in hot weather, of course. Very easy, good

success rate."

This is another way to go...but be aware that not all the lemongrass available in the stores has the "bits" at the base that will lead to roots. Take a close look. If the base looks cut through, you're probably out of luck. If it looks fully rounded at the base (see where I'm going?), you've got a chance of getting the bunch to root....

Wow - that is a great idea... I will definitely try that this week! Kind of reminds me of the potato experiment I did as a kid....

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My two lemongrass clumps are 4' tall and 2-3 feet wide. I purchased the first one as a single stalk in a small container from the plant nursery---it thrived, I dug it up and moved it twice as it quickly outgrew the original location. After the second relocation, I hacked off a clump and planted it....again, it took off like the grass it is. Never tried to start it from seed, though my plants flower & set seed annually. Overall, they look like the decorative pampas grass clumps seen in landscaping.

From digging it up, I know that it has an extensive, fairly fleshy root web, so I'd use a heavy potting mix and a very large pot (as large as what you're using for citrus, or larger if you're growing dwarf citrus). For whatever reason, my plants' stalks are pretty slender, in contrast to the very bulbous ones I see in the produce section of the asian markets. Don't know if it's a different variety, a reaction to cool(ish) winters, or the overall age of the plant. These thinner stalks make excellent skewers for grilled shrimp!

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My two lemongrass clumps are 4' tall and 2-3 feet wide.  I purchased the first one as a single stalk in a small container from the plant nursery---it thrived, I dug it up and moved it twice as it quickly outgrew the original location.  After the second relocation, I hacked off a clump and planted it....again, it took off like the grass it is.  Never tried to start it from seed, though my plants flower & set seed annually.  Overall, they look like the decorative pampas grass clumps seen in landscaping.

From digging it up, I know that it has an extensive, fairly fleshy root web, so I'd use a heavy potting mix and a very large pot (as large as what you're using for citrus, or larger if you're growing dwarf citrus).  For whatever reason, my plants' stalks are pretty slender, in contrast to the very bulbous ones I see in the produce section of the asian markets.  Don't know if it's a different variety, a reaction to cool(ish) winters, or the overall age of the plant.  These thinner stalks make excellent skewers for grilled shrimp!

Wow - great! I have my 3 (plus the mystery) little 3" high plants planted in a 24" terracotta planter (the same size as what I'm using for the dwarf lime tree).. it actually looks kinda funny - but I started it in a big pot because I was expecting them to grow quite large and voluminous like the grass that they are... That's why I've been a little worried lately because I was expecting them to grow faster...

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