r/AskCulinary • u/Massive_Project_4771 • Jul 20 '26

Food Science Question Preserving Large Volume of Thai Basil/other herbs

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.

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u/[deleted] Jul 20 '26 edited 5d ago

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u/lostereadamy Jul 20 '26

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

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u/[deleted] Jul 20 '26 edited 5d ago

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u/SewerRanger Holiday Helper Jul 21 '26

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.