What is cilantro?

Leda Meredith is a food writer and certified botanist who has written five books on foraging & preserving food.

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Recipes With Cilantro

Practically any savory Indian dish will be finished with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro. It can be included in sauces, salsa, and pesto for use with chicken, fish, tofu, or vegetables.

Substitutions

If you don"t have cilantro available, the best substitute is culantro, which is even stronger in cilantro flavor. Otherwise, consider replacing it with an equal amount of fresh parsley, tarragon, dill, or a combination of the three. This works best when the cilantro is a vị trí cao nhất dressing or garnish, but not when it is the main ingredient in pesto or sauce. Dried cilantro will be a poor substitute to fresh, with only a minor amount of cilantro flavor.

Where to lớn Buy Cilantro

Look for fresh cilantro sold by the bunch in the produce section of most markets, right next lớn the parsley. You can find dried cilantro in the spice section. Fresh cilantro should be bright green và the stems should stand up when you hold the bunch in your hand.

Storage

Cilantro doesn't keep fresh for long. Don't wash it until you are ready khổng lồ use it or it will degrade swiftly. To lớn keep it fresh for up to lớn a week, place the stems in a glass of water and cover the đứng đầu loosely with a plastic bag. Keep the cilantro cool by storing it in the refrigerator. Then you can cut off the leaves as needed.

You can freeze cilantro if you blanch it first lớn deactivate the enzymes that will decompose it. Dip a clean bunch of cilantro into boiling water just until it wilts, then plunge it into a bowl of ice water. Pat the blanched cilantro dry. Strip the leaves off the stems & transfer to lớn freezer bags & freeze. Spread the leaves thinly in the bags and store flat. This will enable you to lớn break off just what you need when you want to lớn use some of a bag of frozen herbs.

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You can also freeze cilantro oil or pesto to preserve the cilantro flavor. After you've blanched, chilled, & patted your cilantro sprigs dry, coarsely chop them—tender stems và all. Put them in a blender or food processor và puree, adding enough extra-virgin olive oil to make a smooth, somewhat liquid paste. You can also use the blanched leaves to make your favorite pesto recipe before freezing.

Pour or spoon your oil or pesto into freezer bags. Put in just enough to lớn cover the surface of the bag when it is horizontal. Freeze flat (horizontal). What you"ll kết thúc up with is a pesto "pancake" from which you can break off just what you need.

Alternatively, fill ice cube trays with your cilantro oil or pesto. Freeze, then pop out the cubes và transfer them lớn freezer containers (or freezer bags). Each cube will be approximately 1 tablespoon of herbal oil or pesto.

Instead of freezing, make cilantro compound butter. Use 1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves in a basic herb butter recipe.

Cilantro salt is another way khổng lồ keep cilantro flavor handy for use. Finely chop a bunch of fresh cilantro. Include the stems và take some help from the food processor khổng lồ mince them. Measure the chopped cilantro by loosely packing it into a measuring cup. For every four parts fresh, chopped cilantro (by volume), địa chỉ one part kosher or other coarse, non-iodized salt. Mix well & store in tightly covered glass jars in the refrigerator for up lớn one year. Use anywhere cilantro flavor is welcome, leaving out any other salt called for in the recipe.