The market · Herbs and aromatics · Southeast Asia
Kaffir lime leaves
The double leaf of a knobbly lime — intensely citrus and floral. Increasingly called makrut lime, as the old name is a slur in parts of the world.
citrusy · floral
What to do with it
MinangkabauSoto PadangA clear, spiced beef broth poured over crisp-fried beef, rice vermicelli and potato fritters, with crackers and rice alongside.No one here has made it yetMinangkabauItiak lado mudoDuck simmered with spice until tender, then cooked down in a great heap of pounded green chilli and shallot until coated and oily.No one here has made it yetMinangkabauSala lauakCrisp little balls of rice flour dough, yellow with turmeric and full of small salted fish and chilli, deep-fried.No one here has made it yetJavaneseRawonA beef soup turned black by keluak nuts, earthy and deep, served with rice, short bean sprouts, a salted egg and sambal.No one here has made it yetJavaneseSoto ayamA clear chicken broth, yellow with turmeric, poured over shredded chicken, glass noodles, bean sprouts and egg, with lime, sambal and fried shallots.No one here has made it yetJavanesePecelBlanched greens and sprouts under a hot peanut sauce scented with kencur and lime leaf, with rice and a crisp peanut cracker.No one here has made it yetBalineseBabi gulingA whole young pig stuffed with base genep and greens, rubbed with turmeric and spit-roasted over wood until the skin shatters.No one here has made it yetBalineseBebek betutuA whole duck or chicken stuffed and smothered with base genep, wrapped and cooked slowly in embers until it falls apart.No one here has made it yetBalineseSate lilitMinced fish or pork mixed with grated coconut, base genep and lime leaf, pressed around lemongrass or flat bamboo and grilled.No one here has made it yetBalineseSambal matahA raw sambal of sliced shallot, lemongrass, chilli and lime leaf, with toasted shrimp paste and lime, dressed in hot coconut oil.No one here has made it yetMinahasanAyam rica-ricaChicken cooked in a paste of fresh red and bird's eye chilli, shallot, garlic and ginger, finished with lemongrass, lime leaf and lemon basil.No one here has made it yetMinahasanCakalang fufuSkipjack tuna, split and clamped in bamboo frames, then smoked until firm and dark — eaten fried, shredded into sambal or cooked in rica.No one here has made it yetMinahasanIkan wokuFish cooked in a yellow paste of turmeric, chilli and candlenut with a great handful of fresh leaves — lemon basil, lemongrass, pandan, lime leaf.No one here has made it yetMinahasanPanadaA soft yeasted dough folded around spiced, shredded skipjack and fried golden.No one here has made it yetMinahasanTinoransakPork packed into green bamboo with chilli, ginger, lemongrass and lemon basil, and cooked in the flames.No one here has made it yet
ThaiTom yumA hot and sour broth scented with lemongrass, galangal and lime leaf, sharpened with lime and fish sauce — usually with prawns.No one here has made it yetThaiKhua klingMinced meat dry-fried in a fierce southern curry paste until every crumb is coated, with shredded lime leaf — no coconut and no sauce.No one here has made it yetMalaysianNasi kerabuRice dyed blue with butterfly pea flowers, eaten with finely shredded herbs, kerisik, fish or chicken, budu and sambal.No one here has made it yetIf you can't find it
Asian grocers' freezers, often as makrut lime leaves.
- 1Frozen kaffir lime leafThe same numberYou lose almost nothing — they freeze better than they dry.
- 2Dried kaffir lime leafSimmered in a curry or soupTwice as manyYou lose much of the floral lift; they're also tough, so fish them out.
- 3Lime zestA strip of zest, no pith, for every two leavesYou lose the leaf's perfume — zest is just citrus.Gets some back a little extra lemongrass.
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Southeast Asian grocers. Frozen leaves are far better than dried.
- Worth knowing
- Tear out the central rib and shred very fine if it's to be eaten; leave whole in soups.
Kitchens that keep it in
West Sumatra, IndonesiaMinangkabauThe cooking of the Minang highlands: chilli, coconut and time, and the source of the Padang restaurants found across Indonesia and Malaysia.10 classics · 3 cooked hereCentral and East Java, and Madura, IndonesiaJavaneseThe cooking of Indonesia's most populous island: sweet with palm sugar and kecap manis in the centre, saltier and hotter towards the east, with tempeh and tofu at nearly every meal.9 classicsBali, IndonesiaBalineseThe cooking of Hindu Bali: pork roasted whole, duck slow-cooked in spice, lawar chopped for the temple feast, and base genep, the paste behind nearly everything.9 classicsMinahasa, North Sulawesi, IndonesiaMinahasanThe cooking of Sulawesi's northern tip: fierce with fresh chilli, green with herbs, full of skipjack tuna from the Celebes Sea, and with a few Dutch cakes kept from long ago.9 classicsThailandThaiA cooking of balance, tasted and adjusted at every step: sour, sweet, salty and hot in the same mouthful, sharpened with herbs.11 classicsMalaysia — the Malay Peninsula and northern Borneo, between the Strait of Malacca and the South China SeaMalaysianMalay, Chinese, Indian and Peranakan cooking side by side: sambal, coconut and rice, wok-fried noodles and flaky roti, eaten at hawker stalls and mamak shops at all hours.10 classics
