Lovin' Coriander and its use in Thai cooking

I had a craving for some Thai food and the aromatic coriander, so I decided, I will re-post an article I wrote previously for The Campus Observer. Owing to some server issues, the page is no longer available.
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Coriander for the uninitiated
6 October 2006

Coriander is one herb that tends to evoke polemical reactions. Either you love it, or you hate it.

Once, during dinner at a hawker centre, my friend ordered oyster omelette (or luak), and asked the stallholder to leave out the coriander sprigs.

I was surprised, to say the least. I love this herb, with its piquant aroma that does not overpower and serves as the perfect companion to numerous local dishes.

My pal had might as well ordered the omelette without the oysters. The coriander was the perfect companion to the rich and briny flavours of the oysters and egg but for my friend, the dish was good without “the garnish,” which he said tasted bitter.

Is coriander nothing more than a bitter-tasting garnish?

Its very history belies this.

Originating in the Mediterranean, coriander has been said to be one of the oldest spices used by mankind. Believed to have been cultivated for over 5,000 years, coriander fruits have been found in Egyptian tombs. Sanskrit texts and the Bible make references to it as well. In biblical times, the Hebrews used coriander as the bitter herb in the Passover meal.

A line in the Old Testament’s Exodus also likens “manna” to the whiteness of coriander seed - “And the house of Israel called the name there of Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white”. It was the Romans that helped spread this wonderful plant. Julius Caeser’s soldiers carried coriander seeds with them, as a meat preserver and flavouring.

Meanwhile, Medieval Europeans used the spice to “mask” rotten flavours in presumably less-than-fresh meats.

You may wonder now if I am getting confused. Is coriander an herb or a spice? It is both. Coriander as a spice refers to its dried seeds, which are crushed and imparts dishes such as satay with an aromatic citrus-like flavour.

While also used in Latin America, the Caribbean, India and China, it is probably in Southeast Asia that this plant is most appreciated.

In many of the rempahs of the Malay Archipelago, coriander seed forms an integral part of the spice mixture, traditionally pounded into a paste with a mortar and pestle. The leaves are served as an accompaniment to many Indo-Chinese dishes, while the roots are much loved by the Thais.

Ugly as it may seem, the root is used to spectacular effect in Thai cuisine. Once cleaned thoroughly, the root is used in green curry pastes, soups, marinades, stir-fries and dips.
It is amazing how the root of the same plant can impart such a different taste and aroma from the leaves and seeds. A whiff of it transports you immediately to Thailand, to its street-side stalls hawking barbecued chicken (gai yang), green curry and steaming hot rice noodle soups served with fresh coriander and spring onion sprigs.

However, to the uninitiated, the coriander can be one very misunderstood herb. I learnt this at a gathering where I had cooked gai yang, a dish consisting of chicken pieces marinated in a combination of pungent fish sauce, garlic and coriander root. During the gathering, someone, in an attempt to identify the herb in the dish, asked if I had used Chinese Angelica root
(dang gui).

I was surprised. However, on hindsight, the mystery surrounding the coriander plant is understandable. After all, while many of the much-loved dishes of Southeast Asia would lose its character without this little plant, coriander has never been the lead actor in a dish. Rather, it complements, along with the other actors of garlic, chillies, ginger, spring onions, to name but a few.
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Recipe for Steven’s variation of Thai-style grilled chicken (gai yang)

Ingredients:

• 500 grams chicken thighs
• 6 Coriander plants
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2cm of ginger
• 1 chilli padi
• 6 limes
• Thai fish sauce
• Sugar
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 Lemongrass
  

Finely chop 5 coriander roots, along with the stem base, for every 500grams of chicken. You can use more if you wish.

Then finely chop 6 cloves of garlic, 2cm of ginger and 1 chilli. Combine with approximately 5 tablespoons of Thai fish sauce, adjusting the amount to taste. Also, add sugar according to
taste.

Add oil to the marinade as a lubricant during the grilling process.

Next, add the juice of 6 limes to the marinade. Adjust the amount according
to taste.

At this point, add a stalk of roughly chopped lemongrass to the marinade, but this optional.

Baste chicken in the marinade and leave it in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Grill the marinated chicken at 250 degrees Celsius in a convection oven or over an open charcoal grill.

Cook evenly on all sides and then baste the chicken pieces with the leftover marinade liquid.

Serve with sweet Thai chilli sauce and fresh sprigs of coriander.