A big thank you to all those who entered our Christmas competition for a gift hamper of luxurious Larkrise Soaps and Bath Goodies. The lucky winner was Carolyn Mercieca of Foster.
Jon and I have just arrived back from a beautiful family Christmas in Perth, where good cooking, especially of superb fresh Western Australian seafood, is all the go. Like most Australians we’re in love with Thai flavours, so this month I’m concentrating on lemongrass – its use as an essential oil, as well as growing it, and I’ll be including an incredibly easy and quick sauce for fish which you can whip up in no time when you’re barbecueing some fresh fish throughout the summer.
So here goes – four good uses for lemongrass:
1. Grow it. Lemongrass grows naturally in India and Sri Lanka, but is quite at home in Australia. Ours flourishes here in Foster, but I suspect it may not like frost. It’s in a raised bed, so is well drained, and we cut it back to about 10cm tall each year, but otherwise it thrives on neglect. Just pull a chunk off the plant and chop the white part for cooking. You can easily share with a friend by making sure the chunk you pull of the parent plant has a few roots on it. It’s fantastic to have such an easy-to-grow herb freshly available at your doorstep. It looks good in the garden and saves you money too!
2. Use it medicinally. Lemongrass essential oil has a light and pleasant perfume. My aromatherapy texts tell me it’s known as “the connective tissue oil”, and especially good to repair soft tissue damage, so I’ve been using a couple of drops in some emu oil to help repair the tendons in some fingers I dislocated. The emu oil is well known for its anti-inflammatory properties. My fingers are improving, and the lemongrass oil smells clean and fresh.
3. Drink it. Lemongrass tea is very refreshing. Just chop some leaves of your lemongrass plant and leave to infuse for three to five minutes. Add sugar if you like. It’s also good chilled and served with ice.
4. Eat it.
Fast and easy Thai-style sauce for fish
Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic chopped
a good sized chunk of ginger
minced chilli (to taste)
mild vegetable oil
1 stick of fresh lemongrass, outer leaves removed, white part finely chopped
a handful of fresh coriander, mint, basil, vietnamese mint (any or all of these)
1 dessertspoon brown sugar or palm sugar or golden syrup
the juice of a lemon or lime
extra oil
Method:
Very gently fry the lemongrass, garlic, ginger, chilli, and fresh herbs until they are soft but not brown.
Add brown sugar and lemon juice and cook gently for a couple of minutes more. Taste to adjust flavour.
Add oil until required consistently is reached.
Pour a little over barbecued fish fillets and pass extra in a jug.
This month’s competition is for two bars of our Lemongrass Soap.
Just add a comment or new idea of your own about lovely lemongrass to be in the draw.
The winner will be announced at the end of January.
