coriander

[auds]

Does anyone know of a substitute for fresh coriander.  I don't use it often so don't remember to buy it and when I grow it it goes to seed so quickly before I get to use it!

Cheers

[achookwoman]

auds,  you can use mint,  depending on what you are making.  I grow coriander, and when it looks like going to seed,  I make a pesto with olive oil and garlic,  then freeze it.  I love the flavor,  in fact just had some for lunch, garnish in won ton soup.

[Mary Brown]

Can I ask a question achookwoman.... is that all you put in your pesto... I have heaps of coriander in the garden going to seed and I was going to toss it out.... I thought pesto had nuts etc in it.... the reason I ask is that I have no nuts here at the moment BUT if I can make pesto with 3 ingredients I am set.... We love pesto here as well.....I love it on steamed potato...

[achookwoman]

MB,  I make it as stated and then can add to anything.  If I want a real pesto I then mix with ground nuts.  I certainly wouldn't waste it.  One year my sister gave me a basket of Basil she had pulled from her garden because it was going to seed. I made pesto,  with nuts,  flowers and all. It is so handy to have small tubs in the freezer.

[Mary Brown]

Thanks achookwoman... any help with quantities would be gratefully accepted...

[Winn]

Recently told about an indian supermarket to visit (about 18 miles away), didn't take long to get there.  There was so much to see and the staff were really friendly and helpful.   Prices were excellent (eg 2 pineapples for £1,  huge sack of dutch large onions £2.99p, a kind gentleman lifted it into the car for me) and loads more purchased including fresh coriander. 
Was given a tip that you could freeze coriander, wash, dry on a towel (I used a salad spinner to get rid of surplus water).  I then chopped and weighed in 50g amounts in a bowl on lid of TMX, put in zip lock bags ready for the freezer.  Have six bags now ready to freeze, will leave for a few days  before trying, apparently you can just break off if requiring a small amount.
Will try some more tikka paste, from the Indian cookbook, but using a lot less chillies.  Will let you know if successful in freezing...... would be very handy over winter period to have in ready to use.
 

[andiesenji]

Uhhhh.

Let the coriander go to seed, pull up the plants and hang them upside-down to dry with the tops inside a paper bag.

The dried seeds will keep for months, can be used as seasoning and also to grow more.

If you grow it in the shade it will be slower to bold and if you pinch off the seed stalks as soon as they appear, you can keep it growing longer.  This also goes for similar plants of the

Here the fresh herb is called cilantro, used a lot in Mexican cooking and the seeds, whole or ground called coriander.  

As a substitute,
You should be able to get cuts or plants of rau ram, also called Vietnamese coriander (no relation botanically) which is extremely easy to grow.  Buy some cut in an Asian market, put a few stems in water on a window sill and in a few days you will have many roots from each segment, plant in a pot and it will keep growing as long as not exposed to frost, needs repotting every two years.

It has exactly the same flavor as fresh cilantro or coriander - you use only the leaves as the stems are tough.

[judydawn]

Must look out for that one andie.

I have frozen a huge bunch of home grown coriander and just broken off what I needed and I have also mixed the leaves in the TMX with a little olive oil, frozen it in 1 tspn dobs then transferred to a zip lock bag.  It then just gets added to a dish as it is cooking.

[Twitterpated]

I think this may also be what they call Vietnamese Mint from reading the post and looking at the picture. I have heaps of it growing in a tub but haven't really ever used it. I will do a taste testing to see how similar it tastes. If they taste very similar that would be great as this plant grows like a weed but coriander is a real pain to grow. Thanks for the heads up andiesenji. 

[judydawn]

Ah ha, I have Vietnamese mint but I think I have almost killed it through lack of attention/water. Will be kinder to it and see if it picks up 

[auds]

some great ideas there thank you.  I do know about freezing but if you want it for a fresh garnish or salad its not so good thawed.

I might have a crack at finding some vietnamese mint and see what that is like.  I have no trouble growing the coriander it just doesnt last long before seeding.  I did buy some of that stuff in a tube to see what that was like for using in cooking.  Havent used it yet so not sure.

[Twitterpated]

I agree auds - that's why I'm thinking the Vietnamese mint might not be a bad idea. Easy to always have some of this fresh on hand.

[jeninwa]

The little Asian store near me had potted  Vietnamese mint for sale today wish I had read this before I went shopping.

[andiesenji]

There has been a lot of discussion on various foodie forums about people who don't like the taste of cilantro because to them it has a "soapy" flavor.
Years ago I did some experimenting (when I had a much more extensive herb garden) and having "discovered" Vietnamese coriander or "rau ram" I began growing it and tested it on a couple of friends who couldn't stand regular fresh cilantro.

While to me, the taste of cilantro and rau ram is so similar, to them they did not get the soapy flavor from the rau ram so I was able to use it as an alternative to cilantro when I served carnitas and other Mexican dishes that really need the flavor of cilantro to be authentic.

Also the fact that it grows so well in a pot in a sunny window, with little attention, made it ideal for cooking in winter when cilantro can be so picky about it's site - not growing well indoors without sufficient sunlight, etc. 

Because it is so easy to propagate from stem cutting, I potted many little plants and gave them as gifts one Christmas. 
One of my friends who got one said she used it often because so many recipes specify two tablespoons of cilantro and one has to buy an entire bunch so most of it was wasted.  With the plant she could just pull off a few leaves, use those and still have the plant.