Recipes with lemongrass

14 recipes. Page 1 of 1

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Ayam Gulai (Spiced Coconut Chicken Curry)

Most of the effort goes into a wet paste of onion, garlic, and ginger, fried slowly until the oil separates from the solids. Rushing it leaves a raw, harsh edge in the sauce. After that, chicken thighs simmer in coconut milk with turmeric, ground coriander, and lemongrass until the sauce turns bright yellow and thick enough to coat the meat. Ayam gulai belongs to the Padang food of West Sumatra's Minangkabau people, whose restaurants lay out many small plates before anyone orders and charge only for the ones you touch.

Prep 20min Cook 40min 4 servings

Rice Medium

Com Tam Suon Nuong (Broken Rice with Grilled Pork)

Com tam means broken rice: grains that cracked during milling and were once thrown away as unsellable. Today it is the base of a classic Ho Chi Minh City breakfast, and its small pieces take up the meat's marinade well. Instead of a bone-in chop over charcoal, this version uses thin slices of pork shoulder marinated with lemongrass and seared in a pan.

Prep 25min Cook 20min 2 servings

Grilled Medium

Chicken Inasal (Bacolod Citrus Lemongrass Grilled Chicken)

The orange sheen of Bacolod-style grilled chicken comes from annatto oil, brushed on thinly every time the pieces are turned. In Bacolod a street called Manokan Country holds dozens of inasal stalls, and the dish is often simply called Bacolod chicken. A sour marinade of vinegar, lime juice, lemongrass, and garlic needs at least 2 hours and ideally a night in the fridge to reach into the thighs. Set aside annatto oil that never touches raw chicken for basting, and throw out the used marinade. In the Philippines it comes with garlic rice.

Prep 20min Cook 30min 4 servings

Soups Medium

Bo Kho (Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef Shank Stew)

Beef shank marinated in fish sauce and garlic simmers for one to two hours with lemongrass and tomato paste, until the meat pulls apart and the broth turns red and lightly thick. It is often traced to southern Saigon kitchens where long French braising met Vietnamese aromatics, and street vendors in Ho Chi Minh City sell it from early morning. Some spoon it over rice; others dip a baguette.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 20min Cook 80min 4 servings

Noodles Hard

Vietnamese Spicy Beef Noodle Soup

The broth gets its heat from dried chilies and smells of lemongrass, with a salty depth from fermented shrimp, and the noodles are bún, thick rice noodles that are round in cross-section. Bean sprouts and lime go on the side, and a few slices of cooked pork blood sausage bring the bowl closer to how it is served in Hue.

Prep 30min Cook 120min 4 servings

Asian Medium

Ayam Lemak Cili Padi (Malay Coconut Chicken with Bird's Eye Chili)

Bird's eye chili, shallot, and fresh turmeric are blended into the paste for this Malay coconut chicken, which comes out hot, pale gold, and brothy rather than thick. It simmers uncovered and gently, and stops well before reducing to a sauce, leaving thin liquid around the thighs. Fresh turmeric gives an earthy, slightly bitter smell as the paste fries, while the lemongrass is only there to perfume the broth and comes out before serving.

Prep 20min Cook 35min 4 servings

Rice Medium

Nasi Kerabu (Malaysian Coconut Rice with Mackerel)

Nasi kerabu, a Malaysian rice dish, can be made with rice tinted by flowers; this one uses plain white rice cooked with coconut milk and lemongrass. Flaked grilled mackerel, cucumber, blanched bean sprouts and sambal are set around it separately and mixed in only at the table.

Prep 25min Cook 25min 2 servings

Grilled Easy

Chicken Satay

Turmeric, lemongrass, and coconut milk stain the chicken breast yellow, and the edges turn golden brown over a hot grill or pan. The sauce here is a quick one: peanut butter loosened with coconut milk and seasoned with fish sauce and sugar. Satay began in Java and changed as it spread to Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.

Prep 30min Cook 15min 4 servings

Soups Medium

Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Galangal Chicken Soup with Lime)

Galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves steep in coconut milk alone, with no water or stock. Coconut milk splits if it boils hard, and the pot is kept at the barest simmer with only small bubbles at the edge. The woody galangal and lemongrass can be fished out before serving.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 15min Cook 25min 3 servings

Noodles Hard

Khanom Jeen Nam Ya (Thai Fermented Rice Noodles in Fish Curry)

Poached white fish gets mashed fine and stirred into a red curry and coconut milk sauce, where the fish disappears into the gravy instead of sitting in chunks. Its poaching water, scented with lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, returns to the pot as the stock and keeps a herbal note under the richness of the coconut. Fish sauce and palm sugar set the salty-sweet balance. The rice noodles stay plain: they are boiled, rinsed, and simply drowned in hot sauce. All the seasoning has to come from the curry, which should be loose enough to run between the strands. In Thailand the plate comes with raw bean sprouts, morning glory, green chili, and lime for each diner to mix in. The dish began at royal banquets, yet today it is ordinary market-stall food.

Prep 25min Cook 30min 4 servings

Asian Hard

Beef Rendang (Indonesian Dry Coconut Braised Beef Curry)

Over two to three hours the coconut milk goes from loose curry to thick sauce and finally to a dry stage, where the oil separates and the beef fries in its own spice crust. Finished pieces are dark brown, almost black at the edges, carrying chili heat, the warmth of galangal, and the sweetness of caramelized coconut. Beef chuck suits that long cook, a cut that needs the hours to turn tender.

Prep 30min Cook 180min 4 servings

Rice Easy

Nasi Uduk (Jakartan Coconut Lemongrass Pandan Steamed Rice)

Compared with Malaysian nasi lemak, this Jakarta coconut rice has a lighter coconut note, with lemongrass and pandan adding a soft herbal layer. The rice itself is salted, and fried shallot flakes on top give it crunch. It is meant as a base for side dishes such as fried tempeh, chicken or thin egg omelet strips.

Prep 10min Cook 30min 4 servings

Soups Medium

Thai Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup (Tom Yum Goong)

Sour, spicy, and salty all hit at once in this shrimp soup. The base is chicken stock briefly steeped with lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves, kept at a moderate simmer so it stays clear, and Thai chili paste turns it red. Shrimp need only a minute or two; once they curl and turn pink they are done, and longer cooking costs them their springy bite. Lime juice is stirred in after the heat is off, since boiling dulls its aroma.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 18min Cook 15min 2 servings

Noodles Medium

Soto Ayam (Indonesian Golden Turmeric Chicken Noodle Soup)

Turmeric turns the broth a bright gold, and galangal and lemongrass give the chicken stock a warm, citrusy perfume. Unlike a plain chicken noodle soup, the aromatics are ground into a paste and fried in oil before the chicken and water go in, which gives this Indonesian soup its earthy depth. Rice noodles, boiled eggs, and mung bean sprouts sit in the bowl first, and the hot broth poured over them warms everything through. A squeeze of lime at the table cuts through the turmeric.

Prep 20min Cook 40min 4 servings