I had to trim a few branches back on my tree. I saved the leaves but have
more than I can use.
If you can use a few, send me a mailing address and I'll pop a few in the
mail.

If you care to send me a good recipe I'll add it to my collection. I enjoy
cooking most any type of Asian dishes so "unusual" or "authentic" ones are
always welcome.

I'm also looking for a source of fresh Galangal.
We see it occasionally in the markets here but often it's old or dried out.

--
Pete Romfh, Telecom Geek & Amateur Gourmet.
promfh at Texas dot net

GEE I just dug some galanga for my green curry...where do you live???? I am
in Florida so galanga grows so nicely here just send me a bubble envelope
(stamped ) and I will send you some
"Pete Romfh" > wrote in message
...
> I had to trim a few branches back on my tree. I saved the leaves but have
> more than I can use.
> If you can use a few, send me a mailing address and I'll pop a few in the
> mail.
>
> If you care to send me a good recipe I'll add it to my collection. I enjoy
> cooking most any type of Asian dishes so "unusual" or "authentic" ones are
> always welcome.
>
> I'm also looking for a source of fresh Galangal.
> We see it occasionally in the markets here but often it's old or dried
out.
>
> --
> Pete Romfh, Telecom Geek & Amateur Gourmet.
> promfh at Texas dot net
>
>

On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 00:12:10 -0600, "Pete Romfh"
> wrote:

>I had to trim a few branches back on my tree. I saved the leaves but have
>more than I can use.
>If you can use a few, send me a mailing address and I'll pop a few in the
>mail.
>
>If you care to send me a good recipe I'll add it to my collection. I enjoy
>cooking most any type of Asian dishes so "unusual" or "authentic" ones are
>always welcome.
>
>I'm also looking for a source of fresh Galangal.
>We see it occasionally in the markets here but often it's old or dried out.

If you are in a place where you can grow a kaffir lime, you are in a
place where you can grow your own galangal. If nothing else, a big
(20 gal or so) nursery container will support a healthy crop. I have
one for galangal and turmeric and one for ginger.

B.Server wrote:
> On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 00:12:10 -0600, "Pete Romfh"
> > wrote:
>
>
>>I had to trim a few branches back on my tree. I saved the leaves but have
>>more than I can use.
>>If you can use a few, send me a mailing address and I'll pop a few in the
>>mail.
>>
>>If you care to send me a good recipe I'll add it to my collection. I enjoy
>>cooking most any type of Asian dishes so "unusual" or "authentic" ones are
>>always welcome.
>>
>>I'm also looking for a source of fresh Galangal.
>>We see it occasionally in the markets here but often it's old or dried out.
>
>
> If you are in a place where you can grow a kaffir lime, you are in a
> place where you can grow your own galangal. If nothing else, a big
> (20 gal or so) nursery container will support a healthy crop. I have
> one for galangal and turmeric and one for ginger.

Hey, nice going B.Server!

I have had bad luck with ginger - it always seems to die back and go
nowhere. What, if anything, is your secret? Does it get equal treatment
with the galanga?

NB. I'm growing galanga and turmeric; the galanga is doing very well and
the turmeric iffy. A couple of years ago I had mango ginger as well but
lost it to rot during winter dormancy.

Anyone have any good recipes using turmeric leaves?
The only one I've tried is a rendition of rendang, and the leaves added
in moderation contributed a very interesting flavour.


Best - krnntp

Hello everybody!

I am introducing Asian dishes into our mostly Mediterranean diet. I
purchased a nice book called "The Practical Encyclopedia of Asian
Cooking" by Sallie Morries and Deh-Ta Hsiung which I find very helpful
and easy to follow. There's one thing, however, that I'm not quite
sure what to do about.

The curried dishes I've been making call for Kaffir lime leaves. It
took a while for me to find them and when I finally did, they were
frozen (a couple of dozen or so pairs of leaves in a plastic tray,
wrapped in plastic).

I bought the leaves and they were half defrosted when I got home. Not
sure what to do, I put them in the freezer right away hoping they'd be
fine.

Well, later that week, I used 4 leaves to make a Thai red chicken
curry with bamboo shoots (recipe from the book). One leave went into
the curry and the other three were added, together with the bamboo
shoots, a few minutes before removing the dish from the heat.

Everything was going fine up until I added the torn Kaffir lime leaves
and the bamboo shoots to the pan. Suddenly my wonderful curry dish
starting smelling like soap. I thought it was just me, but my husband
noticed it too.

This was the first time I used bamboo shoots and Kaffir leaves. The
leaves looked fine though I didn't think of checking their smell
before I put them in the pan.

So, please help me understand this. I hear wonderful things about the
taste and smell of Kaffir lime leaves so what went wrong?

What are they supposed to smell like? And why do these ones I bought
smell like soap?

Thanks.

Iris

in article , Iris at
wrote on 2/13/04 3:52 PM:

> Hello everybody!

snip

> What are they supposed to smell like? And why do these ones I bought
> smell like soap?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Iris

That's what kaffir lime leaf smells like. Go ahead and eat it.

"Andrew Berg" > wrote in message
...
> in article , Iris at
> wrote on 2/13/04 3:52 PM:
>
> > Hello everybody!
>
> snip
>
> > What are they supposed to smell like? And why do these ones I bought
> > smell like soap?
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > Iris
>
> That's what kaffir lime leaf smells like. Go ahead and eat it.

Mine don't smell like soap. They have a wonderful, well, limey/citrus aroma.
It is impossible to ever think this is the bad thing. On the other hand,
bamboo shoots can ruin a dish. Were they fresh or canned? Fresh shoots at
the least need to be boiled to make them edible. I'd go for canned or give
them a miss.

Iris wrote:
> Hello everybody!
>
> I am introducing Asian dishes into our mostly
> Mediterranean diet. I purchased a nice book called "The
> Practical Encyclopedia of Asian Cooking" by Sallie
> Morries and Deh-Ta Hsiung which I find very helpful and
> easy to follow. There's one thing, however, that I'm not
> quite sure what to do about.
>
> The curried dishes I've been making call for Kaffir lime
> leaves. It took a while for me to find them and when I
> finally did, they were frozen (a couple of dozen or so
> pairs of leaves in a plastic tray, wrapped in plastic).
>
> I bought the leaves and they were half defrosted when I
> got home. Not sure what to do, I put them in the freezer
> right away hoping they'd be fine.
>
> Well, later that week, I used 4 leaves to make a Thai red
> chicken curry with bamboo shoots (recipe from the book).
> One leave went into the curry and the other three were
> added, together with the bamboo shoots, a few minutes
> before removing the dish from the heat.
>
> Everything was going fine up until I added the torn
> Kaffir lime leaves and the bamboo shoots to the pan.
> Suddenly my wonderful curry dish starting smelling like
> soap. I thought it was just me, but my husband noticed it
> too.
>
> This was the first time I used bamboo shoots and Kaffir
> leaves. The leaves looked fine though I didn't think of
> checking their smell before I put them in the pan.
>
> So, please help me understand this. I hear wonderful
> things about the taste and smell of Kaffir lime leaves so
> what went wrong?
>
> What are they supposed to smell like? And why do these
> ones I bought smell like soap?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Iris

If you think they were spoiled or that the frozen ones were the problem,
send me your address )off-line) and I'll send you a few fresh ones to
compare against.

--
Pete Romfh, Telecom Geek & Amateur Gourmet.

email me at: promfh (at) Texas (dot) net

"david" > wrote in message >...
> "Andrew Berg" > wrote in message
> ...
> > in article , Iris at
> > wrote on 2/13/04 3:52 PM:
> >
> > > Hello everybody!
> >
> > snip
> >
> > > What are they supposed to smell like? And why do these ones I bought
> > > smell like soap?
> > >
> > > Thanks.
> > >
> > > Iris
> >
> > That's what kaffir lime leaf smells like. Go ahead and eat it.
>
> Mine don't smell like soap. They have a wonderful, well, limey/citrus aroma.
> It is impossible to ever think this is the bad thing.

Well, it was, indeed, the Kaffir lime leaves. Last week my husband and
I had lunch at a very nice Cambodian restaurant. This restaurant is
famous for their amok Angkor-style so we ordered it. When the waitress
brought it to the table, we knew right there that there was nothing
wrong with the Kaffir I had used in that Thai dish at home. I it just
us... Regrettably, we find the aroma of the Kaffir leaves loathsome.

It's just so weird. I love the smell and taste of ginger, lemongrass,
galangal, tamarind, etc., but can't tolerate Kaffir leaves, lemon
verbena or cilantro. Go figure.

"Pete Romfh" > wrote in message >...
>
> If you think they were spoiled or that the frozen ones were the problem,
> send me your address )off-line) and I'll send you a few fresh ones to
> compare against.

That won't be necessary but thank you, anyway. I shouldn't lose hope,
you know. Today I like things I used to dislike some years ago
(avocado, basil, estragon, certain tipes of fish).

On 26 Feb 2004 09:40:23 -0800, (Iris)
wrote:

>"david" > wrote in message >...
[...]
>
>Well, it was, indeed, the Kaffir lime leaves. Last week my husband and
>I had lunch at a very nice Cambodian restaurant. This restaurant is
>famous for their amok Angkor-style so we ordered it. When the waitress
>brought it to the table, we knew right there that there was nothing
>wrong with the Kaffir I had used in that Thai dish at home. I it just
>us... Regrettably, we find the aroma of the Kaffir leaves loathsome.
>
>It's just so weird. I love the smell and taste of ginger, lemongrass,
>galangal, tamarind, etc., but can't tolerate Kaffir leaves, lemon
>verbena or cilantro. Go figure.

Just curious. Do you also loath the odor of fresh lime or lemon peel
or zest? How about grapefruit rind? Do you find them to be at all
similar to the aroma of kaffir lime?

wrote:

> >It's just so weird. I love the smell and taste of ginger, lemongrass,
> >galangal, tamarind, etc., but can't tolerate Kaffir leaves, lemon
> >verbena or cilantro. Go figure.
>
> Just curious. Do you also loath the odor of fresh lime or lemon peel
> or zest? How about grapefruit rind? Do you find them to be at all
> similar to the aroma of kaffir lime?

Not at all. I like citrus and use zest and juice in my drinks and
cooking quite often. What I find very similar to the aroma of Kaffir
lime leaves is the lemon verbena.

On 27 Feb 2004 12:16:32 -0800, (Iris)
wrote:

wrote:
>
[...]
>>
>> Just curious. Do you also loath the odor of fresh lime or lemon peel
>> or zest? How about grapefruit rind? Do you find them to be at all
>> similar to the aroma of kaffir lime?
>
>Not at all. I like citrus and use zest and juice in my drinks and
>cooking quite often. What I find very similar to the aroma of Kaffir
>lime leaves is the lemon verbena.

Thanks Iris. I've no idea what lemon verbena smells like (I know, I
know, like kaffir lime...) so I'll just try to remember to find some
the next time I am at the herb nursery.

"B.Server" wrote:
> On 27 Feb 2004 12:16:32 -0800, (Iris)
> wrote:
> >Not at all. I like citrus and use zest and juice in my drinks and
> >cooking quite often. What I find very similar to the aroma of Kaffir
> >lime leaves is the lemon verbena.
> Thanks Iris. I've no idea what lemon verbena smells like (I know, I
> know, like kaffir lime...) so I'll just try to remember to find some
> the next time I am at the herb nursery.

You know the lemon oil you polish furniture with? Imagine lime oil. I
like it in soups, but I cut WAAAAAAAY back. The only time I like it full
bore is in really spicy hot and soup Thai style soup.
blacksalt

kalanamak wrote:

> bore is in really spicy hot and soup Thai style soup.
> blacksalt

EEEk! Make that hot and sour Thai soup.
blacksalt