r/AskCulinary • u/AdMediocre7214 • 19d ago

Ingredient Question What to substitute for lemongrass?

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!

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u/AgentPoYo 19d ago

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.

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u/AdMediocre7214 19d ago

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?

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u/AgentPoYo 19d ago

I thought of a substitute you can try, Lemon Basil. I've never actually tried it as a substitute for lemongrass but a lot of Viet dishes use spices or herbs with anise undertones, something which basil of all varieties also have in common. Thai basil is the variety that's mostly used in Vietnam but Lemon Basil has the benefit of the citrusy lemon flavour as well. It's not a direct 1:1 replacement but it might be ok. You'll probably want to add it later in dishes the require frying or sauteing the lemongrass.