The lemon grass is greener; Asian herb sprouts up in sweet and savory dishes.

Lemon grass lies at the confluence of two trends: a renewed taste for citrus flavors and a passion for all things Asian. The long, dry stalks that look so unpromising in their natural state add a delicate, herbal citrus note to foods - one that's familiar to fans of Thai and Vietnamese foods and that's increasingly turning up on eclectic menus of all kinds.


Sold in Asian markets (and, occasionally, well-stocked supermarkets), lemon grass has a distinctive flavor that lends itself to both sweet and savory dishes. Perhaps its most familiar incarnation today is as the sour component in Thai hot and sour soup. It's a natural partner for seafood but also works well ...

Lively Lemon Grass

Lemon grass is an edible grass native to Southeast Asia with a floral aroma that is a cross between freshly cut hay and lemon. While it is lemon flavored, it lacks that fruit's mouth-puckering tartness and thus is equally at home in delicate soups and tongue-blistering curries, in appetizers, salads, main dishes, desserts and tisanes.


Fragrant lemon grass figures prominently in Thai soups, Vietnamese chicken and beef dishes, and in Malaysian curry pastes. In the West, however, it was long used mainly in herbal tea, but now progressive American chefs are adding fresh lemon grass to everything from barbecue sauce to cre`me brule'e.

It is available as slender stalks up to two feet long ...