Can anyone tell me what i can use instead of coriander root?? Would the stalks be a second best substitute??
I am planning on making Chicken Noodle Laksa and it says i need coriander root but i'm not sure i can get hold of any so i need to know a substitute, so any comments would be appreciated...
Thanks Rachel

Oh well I have never cooked with coriander root. Sounds very odd cos they are tiny little thread like things unlike a stem of ginger, for example. So I might be completely wrong here talking about the roots of the coriander I buy from the supermarket. Anyway, in all my local supermarkets you can get packaged cut herbs and herbs growing in little pots.. which have roots. If these are the types of roots you mean, why not buy a little pot of growing coriander.

Yes it sounded odd to me also Mamma, but did a little reasearch, and found that the roots add the flavour of corriander without adding the greeness, but as you say they are very small, so I would think you would have to grow your own corriander to get them......... and if you use the roots, you kill the plant. Oh well, that is the way I see it anyway.

For the root their are at least 2 substitutes I know that work. One as the same as MammaChef and Rustie but you are going to need at least 2 handfuls of coriander stems instead of the root. Secondly coriander seed will do.

Just leave it out; the root has an earthy flavour; completely different from the seeds which are very orange in their flavour. If you can buy your coriander from Indian grocers; they'll need scraping but otherwise leave out

when i have bought coriander roots from my local asian store, they are the stringy rooty bits, the bulb at the bottom, and the white bit of the stem. - before it gets green and like parsley.

our local lebanese food store sells massive coriander bunches, which also often include the stems and roots. if you like, you can cut the roots off and freeze them for later.

corinder roots are often included to give a more earthy flavour just as kiwichef said, and are less aromatic. i would therefore include them if you can, cause they were recommended for a reason. personally, i would use the stalks if that is all you have.

Hi Rachel,

If you do use the stem of fresh coriander here's a tip for cleaning them and getting all the mud off.

chopped the stems into small pieces, place them in a lrage bowl and fill the bowl with cold water. Give the stems a quick stir and let them stand for 10 mins, after this you'll see that all the dirt and mud will have sunk to the bottom. Using a small sieve scoop up the stems without distrubing the bottom.

Reshma

thank you all, thank you kiwichef and thank you reshma in no particular order. I have learnt loads.

Thank you all.

Thankyou all for all the information you have given me, i have learn't a lot and know what to do in the future...

In the end i bought a pot of coriander and used the roots, they are so much stronger than the stems and leaves but they did add a wonder taste....It was a little time consuming cleaning and scraping them but it was worth it the Laksa was Fantastic!!!
Next time i will use your suggestion Reshma about how to clean them it may save me some time...

Again thankyou all

Is the Laksa recipe your own Rachel? If so, can you post it? Many thanks!

No Georgie it isn't, it's Ben O'Donoghue's Chicken Noodle Laska you can find it in the recipes on this site.