I used to work in Downtown, LA, a stone’s throw from Grand Central Market, which, for those of you unfamiliar with Downtown LA, is a sheltered food hall. It’s pretty pathetic, really. It’s small, unsightly, and nothing like the grand foodhalls that you think of in Europe. Maybe it resembles the food emporium on Essex Street on the Lower East Side in New York. But you can get fresh corn tortillas right off a conveyor belt and buy red snapper for fish tacos. A portrait of Jesus with little blinking electric lights can also be purchased for home decor.
I went through a phase when I was working of tom ka gai, which is Thai coconut chicken soup. There was a lovely lady who had the teeniest stand in there and when you ordered the soup, she whipped it up for you right on the spot, her arms in a dazzling frenzy whirling around vegetables and chicken in the wok. If you’ve never had tom ka gai, it is wonderful and happily pecuilar in the way it hits all of your taste senses and you can taste the transition from salty (the broth), sweet (coconut milk), hot/bitter (chili peppers), and sour (lemongrass)–like those everlasting gobstoppers from Willy Wonka that provided five-course meals in one sourball. It’s one of the most delicious soups ever and a staple on most Thai restaurant’s menus.
Lemongrass is a long reed and works as a strong herb–meaning, it tends to be more aromatic than actually tasty. Nevertheless, it does have the faintest taste of lemons, almost as if they were mixed with a little mint and some spring flowers, actually kind of the powdery way a lemon drop candy smells. They add a subtle touch of this taste to a dish in a way that substituting plain lemon cannot achieve. If you buy lemongrass, and are not into Thai food (I am, hence the recipe), know that it is actually quite versatile because it is so subtle: you can make fish sauces, strawberry-lemongrass jam, even cookies and ice-cream. Pound them a bit before using to help maximize their aroma and flavor.
RECIPE: Lemongrass, Coconut, and Ginger Soup With Shrimp
Filed under: Clean Food Daily, herbs, lemongrass, Thai, vegetables
