Taste the World Spice Club: Makrut Lime Leaves

Introducing the Taste the World Club, a collaboration between the Scarsdale Public Library and Apiary at the Library.  

Each month we will provide a small amount of a different spice or spice blend from a different part of the world.  

Cook with the spice and join us for a Zoom discussion of what we each made.  Participants will share tips, recipes and opinions of how their sampling the spices went. 

For January we will be cooking with Makrut Lime Leaves, also known as Kaffir Lime Leaves.  Makrut lime leaves are a key ingredient in Thai cooking as well as other Southeast Asian cuisines. They are probably one of the most aromatic of all herbs and a wonderful addition to many Thai and Southeast Asian soups, curries, and stir-fries.  Makrut limes (Citrus hystrix) are different from regular limes in that they are very bitter with bumpy skin. In Thailand, the makrut limes are not consumed but are used mainly in producing household cleaning products. The leaves, however, are very aromatic and can be eaten if very thinly sliced or cooked.

The bouquet and taste of makrut lime leaves are quite strong. The flavor is bright, fresh, distinctly citrus, with more lime than lemon but without the same sharpness of the Western fruits. 

Here are some suggestions for what you can do with them:

Yummly's best Kaffir Lime recipes

NY Times Lime Leaves Recipes

Everything You Need to Know About Cooking with Lime Leaves

8 Kaffir/Makrut Lime Leaf Recipes

Kaffir Lime Leaf Recipes on ThaiTable

There are TONS of other recipes that can be found by googling for recipes - just not too many that were organized together.  

You will get an email when kits are available.  

You will receive an email with the Zoom link approximately 1 hour before the discussion starts.  

Happy cooking!