I love Coriander (pt_br Coentro)

I love Coriander ( Coriandrum sativum ) (pt_br Coentro)

If parsley makes a splash in Italian cooking, it's cousin coriander, is king in Thai cooking.
It is also interesting to mention the yankees call it cilantro an in portuguese is coentro.

Mainly we use coriander in 4 different forms:

• Seeds
• Seeds powder
• Leaves and Stems
• Roots

I personally prefer to buy coriander bunches with longer and thicker roots since I use 3 separate parts of the bunch in different steps of cooking as explained below.

Buying a fresh bunch is essential, and the best way to store it is in a glass of water like a vase, with roots underwater and everything else above water level in a ventilated place. If this is not possible wrap it (very dry) in paper towel ( usually newspaper is used in Bangkok) and then in a plastic bag, as far as it can be from the coldest places of your fridge because it will "burn" it otherwise.


Coriander Seeds
It is curry used in pastes, sauces, and marinades, try dry roasting in the oven on a baking tray to bring out their perfume and flavours at the time of cooking.
Light soy sauce with roasted coriander seeds is a fantastic sauce for fried whatever (sausages skewers, fried fish etc.

Seeds powder
One key ingredient in the preparation of curry pastes.

Making good use of the coriander bunch:

Coriander Roots
Separate the roots from the rest of the bunch.
With a mortar ans pestle create a thick paste mixing coriander roots with garlic (see variations) .

Walking the streets in Bangkok and observing the street cooks, I was intrigued by what were they pressing the whole day long with their mortar and pestles?


And my answer is this:

1- Coriander Roots + Garlic
2- Coriander Roots + Garlic + Chillies
3- Coriander Roots + Garlic + Lemon Grass
4- Coriander Roots + Garlic + Galangal
5- Coriander Roots + Garlic + Ginger

Coriander Stems
I chop very finely most of the stem part of the bunch and I use them during the curry cooking process, mostly when the curry in the wok is releasing all its oil to the surface, and before adding the second lot of coconut cream to the curry.

This paste is then "roasted or fried" if you prefer in your wok PRIOR to preparing your curries! (NEAT TRICK!)
Personally I like using a very small drop of Peanut oil and fry the mixture before cooking, also If I'm going to use meat, chicken or pork I "seal" them first in this mixture.

Coriander Leaves
Of course Coriander Leaves are used for edible decoration in many Thai dishes.
Here is my personal taste. I prefer to break them with my hands into my plate. Very course, very whole very FRESH!

Of course you can chop them if you prefer and serve them separately so everyone can add their preferred amount of Coriander to their plates. At home we have always a serve of fresh coriander and one of fresh chillies so we can "spice up" everything. I even like to eat sticky rice with fresh coriander and chillies by itself.

OK, Coriander and Chillies are a fantastic mixture! I love it!

Note: It is also important to mention that there are other 2 types of coriander used in cooking:
1- Long Coriander (Eryngium foetidum L.) sometimes known as culantro an in portuguese coentro-bravo.
2- Vietnamese Coriander (Polygonum odoratum Lour.) in portuguese hortelã-vietnamita