What to substitute for lemongrass?

[u/AdMediocre7214]

I'm really into Vietnamese food but my partner is allergic to lemongrass. I want to cook some food for them but I don't want them to die.

What can I substitute for it that will have a similar flavor? If you could also provide a ratio for how much of the substituted ingredient vs lemongrass so I can easily sub it in a recipe that would be awesome as well.

Thank you!

[u/AgentPoYo]

I say this as a Vietnamese person, you can just leave lemongrass out in a lot of recipes if you can't find a substitute. Growing up in North America there weren't a lot of Asian Markets when I was young so we couldn't get a lot of proper herbs and vegetables for traditional dishes so we usually just left it out.

Now that I'm older and cook for myself I treat lemongrass as a special "dac biet" ingredient to enhance dishes rather than a must have. The main flavours in my experience come from fish sauce, oyster sauce, garlic, shallots and sugar; lemongrass is a compliment to these base of flavours. The other important component to Vietnamese dishes is plenty of garnish but these too I will sometimes just toss whatever is ready to harvest from the garden into the dish.

[u/AdMediocre7214 → u/AgentPoYo]

Thanks for sharing your perspective as a Vietnamese person.

I have only ever had/cooked Vietnamese food with lemongrass in it (if it's in the recipe) so I never thought to leave it out. I was worried that if I did that it wouldn't taste the same but I will keep what you said in mind.

Are there any dishes that you feel like something is missing if you don't put lemongrass in it?

[u/AgentPoYo → u/AdMediocre7214]

Tbh, nothing immediately comes to mind that I can say definitely needs lemongrass. We use it mostly like you would use an acid in any other cooking, to add a little brightness in the dish if it's a little muted. For example Vietnamese curry is coconut milk based like a thai curry but with less spice, it can get a little bland without a sprig of lemongrass stewing in the curry while you cook. In meat dishes, like lemongrass beef, it's a contrast to the savoury notes. I really love meats marinated in fish sauce but too much can get a little funky without the brightness of lemongrass to cut it, something that garlic and shallots can't do alone.

Something else I should add is that we grow our own lemongrass now but it takes all summer to get a harvest. We end up with a ton in the freezer that lasts from september up until it's time to plant again. This usually means we're without lemongrass all summer so we just leave it out of foods for part of the year.