Lemongrass can be really tricky to get hold of in the Algarve, so we were delighted to find some in our local supermarket recently, and looked forward to making a Thai dish with it.
To our shame, we found it a week or so later looking a little past its best, when we had already planned our meals for the week. My wife was determined not to throw it away after we had been so delighted to find it. She had heard that the usual use for lemongrass in Portugal was to make tea with it, so that is what she did. Over to her.
This is really the simplest recipe ever. It makes two cups of delicious, fragrant lemongrass tea. As lemongrass has a wide range of health benefits (from lowering cholesterol to preventing acne), it’s good for you too.
Ingredients:
Portuguese Lemongrass Tea
1 stick of lemongrass
Boiling water
1. Chop the lemongrass into 1 cm chunks in a small jug.
2. Pour enough boiling water into the jug for two cups of tea.
3. Allow to steep for 3-5 minutes, to taste.
4. Pour into tea cups, straining to remove the chunks of lemongrass if you prefer.
You can vary the recipe by adding mint leaves or other infusions.
“1 stick of lemongrass
Boiling water”
that’s my kind of recipe simplicity! LOL
Lemon grass is so easy to grow here. We live in west Algarve, and have no problem growing the plant. In actual fact we seem to be constantly cutting it back! My husband has it growing in a pot, and I have it growing in a raised bed. Our Portuguese neighbours use it a lot for tea.