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Lemongrass

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Lemongrass is Cymbopogon citratus, a tropical grass whose lemon-scented stalks and leaves flavour cooking across South and Southeast Asia. The common name also covers other Cymbopogon species.

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A loose bundle of lemongrass with pale cut stalk bases and long green leaves rests diagonally on a warm ivory surface.

The plant and its name

Lemongrass in cooking is Cymbopogon citratus, a tall tropical grass in the Poaceae. Kew accepts the name Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf, and the species is often called West Indian lemongrass. The common name can also refer to other Cymbopogon species, so a market label alone does not establish the plant. East Indian lemongrass, Cymbopogon flexuosus, is grown mainly for its essential oil and is a separate product.

The name changes from place to place. PROSEA records serai dapur or sereh in Indonesia, tanglad in the Philippines and cha khrai in Thailand. A recipe that names lemongrass in a language or market list should be read with this overlap in mind.

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Which part is used

The tender white stem at the base is the part most cooks want. The long blades and tough outer sheaths are fibrous. Illinois Extension describes the stem and leaves as the parts used, with the stem most prized, and notes their use in Vietnamese and Thai dishes. Wisconsin Extension advises removing the outer layers, bruising the stalk and simmering it so the aroma comes out, then taking the stalk out before the dish is served.

In Java, PROSEA records the leaf sheaths in sambal goreng, sambal petis, cooked fish and fish sauces, and young shoot hearts eaten with rice. The sources give no quantities and no storage limits for a complete recipe, so any amount has to come from the recipe that uses it.

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Flavour

Illinois Extension describes the stems and leaves as giving food a strong lemon flavour. The aroma comes from the plant's aromatic oils. Citral is a major constituent of lemongrass oil. PROSEA describes the distilled oil as grassy, lemon-like and herbaceous. That is a description of the oil, not a precise taste of the fresh plant, and this entry does not treat it as one.

Crushing, bruising or simmering releases more of the aroma, which is why the stalk is usually prepared before it goes into a pot. A large piece can flavour a dish well and still be too fibrous to eat.

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Origin and spread

The sources do not agree on where the plant came from. Kew and the Royal Horticultural Society give South India and Sri Lanka as the native range. PROSEA says the exact origin is unknown and a Malesian origin is most likely, and it reports cultivation for food in South and Southeast Asia for several centuries. None of these sources dates a first culinary use.

The origin is unresolved. A crop range or a record of use in Java does not establish a birthplace. Lemongrass is now grown in many warm regions, and its place in each local cuisine is documented use, not proof that the cuisine invented it.

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Essential oil and related species

Lemongrass oil is a separate product from the fresh stalk. PROSEA reports that trade statistics for the oil often combine Cymbopogon citratus with Cymbopogon flexuosus. Figures for the oil should therefore not be read as figures for the culinary plant alone.

The sources do not give a distillation method or a domestic dose of oil, and an essential oil is not a food preparation or a preservative. Its smell is not a test of safety.

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Handling

The FDA advises washing fresh produce under running water before cutting or peeling it, including parts that will be thrown away. Soap, detergent and commercial produce washes are not for produce. Washing lowers surface bacteria but does not remove them all, so clean hands and utensils, cut away damaged parts and keep produce apart from raw meat, poultry and seafood and the tools used for them.

No lemongrass-specific foodborne hazard, validated home preservation process or safe shelf life is established by these sources. A fermented, canned or oil-packed recipe that uses lemongrass needs its own process evidence and controls. Lemongrass flavour and aroma are not a safety control.

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Places

South and Southeast Asia

Documented use · Region evidence

PROSEA reports cultivation for food in South and South-East Asia; it does not date a first food use.

See South and Southeast Asiaon the mapLocation source 1 →

Java

Documented use · Region evidence

PROSEA records leaf sheaths in sambal goreng, sambal petis, cooked fish and fish sauces, and young shoot hearts eaten with rice.

See Javaon the mapLocation source 1 →

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