Frozen Chopped Lemon Grass??

[rotuts]

I usually buy a bunch of lemon grass, peel a bit, and chop to length and place a dozen or so in a SV bag and seal then freeze. i take out what I might need then re-seal the same bag as it gets a bit shorter etc

i have to go to the Allston Chinese Emporium to get them which is not too often. This way i have them on hand.

wandering around the same emporium this AM I found this:

anyone try this? it certainly would save some work. its available in 4 sizes and the largest is pretty large.

[Bill Klapp]

I have not. Had a big problem finding fresh lemongrass, but have mature plants coming this week. What I found in the interim was finely sliced lemongrass in liquid in jars. Tried it for the first time last night, and it was really good. Not fresh, absolutely lacking the intense bite of fresh, but yet delivering a full lemongrass taste in the dish. Based upon that, I do not see why your product should not be workable. Dried and powdered lemongrass, on the other hand, are wastes of money...

[Kerry Beal]

I'm a big fan of frozen lemongrass - pick it up in the asian market very inexpensively.

[ElsieD]

I also buy and use frozen lemongrass.

[jmolinari]

I use it all the time. Seems great to me.

[jsager01]

IMO, and i believe most would agree, fresh lemon grass (or any spice/herbs/ingredients) is best. They keep well in the fridge, and can be frozen.

If fresh is not available then frozen whole lemon grass would be my next choice (or grow your own :-))

If frozen whole lemon grass is not available, then i guess you could settle for frozen chopped lemon grass

I have not tried frozen chopped lemon grass, but i think it would be like buying ground spices instead of the whole spice (something like ground pepper instead of pepper corns). I usually cook with whole lemon grass, after trimming and bashing it to release the flavors, and if incorporated into a curry paste, then i grind them as fine as i can. I have no idea how big/small the chopped pieces of lemon grass are, but how do you remove it if you do not want to eat it or do you have to grind it further, in which case, if you are buying it for the convenience then i am not sure how convenient it is.

[jmolinari]

It's chopped very finely so i don't use it in dishes i want to remove the lemongrass from.

It's may be similar to preground spices, but unlike preground spices which become sawdust very quickly, the frozen lemongrass stays rather strong for a very long time. it may be less intense than fresh, but it's still remarkably strong tasting and very very convenient for weeknight stir fries.

[jsager01]

i suppose freezing preserves more of the volatile oils/compounds than preground dried spices.

for easy removal if you do not wish to eat the chopped lemongrass, perhaps you could put it in a ' tea bomb' or a cheesecloth bag, but this is more for stews/braises, and not sure if it will work for stir fries.

[jmolinari]

good idea, or even a re-usable metal tea ball

PS: i just realized that's probably what you meant by "tea bomb"

Edited November 8, 2013 by jmolinari (log)