Enjoy a lovely, earthy, lightly lemon scented, non-caffeinated drink with your favorite Southeast Asian dish or just on its own hot or iced. Fresh lemongrass tea will be ready in 15 minutes or less.
Whether you're serving a Southeast Asian inspired meal or just want a refreshing herbal drink to sip on, lemongrass tea is an ideal option if you have fresh lemongrass.
Pair this lemongrass tea with Thai coconut curry mussels, vegan butternut squash curry, or a cool pomelo salad.
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What exactly is lemongrass?
Native to Indonesia, lemongrass is a staple of Southeast Asian cuisines. The bulb is finely chopped and added to curry pastes and stir fries, while the whole stalk is added to soups to stews to season the broth before being discarded.
According to James Oseland in the Cradle of Flavor cookbook, the "thicker the stalk, the tastier it will be. The stalks should show no signs of mildew or rot."
He also explains that lemongrass has high concentrations of citral oil, the same oil found in the rind of a lemon.
However, since lemongrass is the root end of the plant, it has an earthiness and woodsiness akin to ginger in addition to its citrus flavor.
Ingredients
As with many teas, only 2 ingredients are required.
- Fresh Lemongrass stalks - These stalks will usually be found in the refrigerated section of the produce aisle next to the fresh herbs.
- Look for the freshest lemongrass you can rind, rather than dried out, browned stalks that have been sitting there for awhile.
- Peel off any browned, dried out layers, so you're left with a creamy, yellowish stalks.
- Avoid buying dried lemongrass, since it just doesn't have much flavor and the aromatic qualities have been lost.
- Water
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Peel off any dried, brown layers of the lemongrass stalks. Chop into roughly 4 inch sections. Smash with a meat mallet to help release essential oils.
Drop stalks into a pot with water and bring to a boil.
Simmer on a low boil for at least 10 minutes.
The longer you cook it, the darker the brown the tea becomes.
Hint: Simmer for at least 10 minutes, but you can cook for up to an hour. When I worked in restaurants, we'd put a giant pot of this on the burner to cook and then just kind of forget about it. After a certain point, there is not any flavor left to extract out of the stalk, and this is about at the hour point for most vegetables.
Storage
Store the cooled tea in the fridge for up to a week.
In case you want to serve the tea later, make a concentrated liquid with only ½ of the water in the recipe. Then add the remaining ½ of water to the concentrated tea when you're ready to serve.
Fresh lemongrass stalks can be stored in the fridge for a couple weeks. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Variations
- Lemongrass Ginger Tea - Simmer the lemongrass with a knob of ginger (peeled or unpeeled).
- Lemongrass Mint Tea - Add a handful of fresh mint to the pot to cook with the lemongrass.
- Lemongrass Honey Tea - Squeeze in honey or agave to the finished tea. Squeeze in some lemon juice for a pop of fresh lemon flavor.
Tips to make it better @home
- Look for thicker lemongrass stalks, since those have more flavor.
- In case you've used the bulb for cooking, you can just use the leftover top part of the stalk to make the tea.
- You can simmer for up to an hour in case you forget about the pot.
- To make this extra special, make a double batch and pour half of the cooled tea into ice cube trays with a sprig of mint in each cube. Then serve the cold lemongrass tea with lemongrass tea, mint ice cubes.
- Serve with your favorite Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, or other Southeast Asian cuisine.
Asian Side Dishes for Pairing
Recipe
Lemongrass Tea
Ingredients
- 4 ea fresh lemongrass stalks
- 8 c water
Optional Garnishes
- sweetener agave, honey, or sugar
- lime or lemon slices
- lemongrass stalks
- mint leaves
Instructions
- Trim off the root end of the lemongrass stalk. Roughly chop the stalks into 4 inch pieces. Smash lightly with a meat mallet to release the oils.
- Combine the lemongrass with the water in a pot. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer on a low bubble for at least 10 minutes. (The pot doesn't have to be covered, but this helps prevent too much water loss from evaporation.)
- Strain out the lemongrass stalks. Taste and add sweetener or more water if desired.
- Serve hot or cooled over ice. Add any of the optional garnishes to the serving cup.
Notes
- Look for thicker lemongrass stalks, since those have more flavor.
- Store the cooled tea in the fridge for up to a week.
- You can simmer for up to an hour in case you forget about the pot.
- In case you want to serve this later, make a concentrated liquid with only ½ of the water in the recipe. Then add the remaining ½ of water to the concentrated tea when you're ready to serve.
- To make this extra special, make a double batch and pour half of the cooled tea into ice cube trays with a sprig of mint in each cube. Then serve the cold lemongrass tea with lemongrass tea, mint ice cubes.
- Serve with your favorite Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, or other Southeast Asian cuisine.
Nutrition
Food safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- Never leave food that is still cooking unattended.
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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