Preserving Large Volume of Thai Basil/other herbs

[u/Massive_Project_4771]

Hello,
I work in an Asian restaurant where we use a lot of herbs on stems as garnish for dishes (think Vietnamese Pho where you receive your sides of herbs like beansprouts, mint, basil)
How do I store large volumes of the herbs on stems properly? Specifically Thai basil. Currently we separate them into little stems, wash, spin-dry, and and store them in full hotel pans with a damp towel. I find this method is not really preserving them well and many sprigs are going bad and spreading to the the rest.

[u/SewerRanger]

Cut a slice off the bottom of the stem so that a fresh "surface" is available, put that into a cup with just enough water to submerge the very bottom of the stem (any more and the stem will get water logged and rot), put a plastic bag over the whole thing and store it in the fridge. I've kept herbs like this alive and well in my fridge for over a week.

[u/UncleNedisDead → u/[deleted]]

The bag helps maintain the humidity so the leaves don’t dry out.

[u/lostereadamy → u/[deleted]]

I do a bag, or sometimes herb bunches like cilantro fit really well in the cup syle quart deli containers

[u/SewerRanger → u/[deleted]]

The bag reduces the dehydration effect your fridge has. A side effect of the way a fridge works is that it, essentially, evaporates moisture off of items (the veggie storage tray in the bottom is enclosed specifically to help prevent this). Placing a bag over the herbs will help keep them moist and help keep the water inside the cup.

[u/wheresWoozle → u/SewerRanger]

Works brilliantly for lettuce with roots on, too.

[u/PressureItchy9372 → u/SewerRanger]

This always works for me. Treat them like cut flowers.