The market · Herbs and aromatics · Southeast Asia
Lemon basil
Kemangi in Indonesia, maenglak in Thailand: a small-leaved basil that tastes of lemon and pepper. Eaten raw with grilled fish and sambal, or stirred into curries at the end.
lemony · peppery · sweet
What to do with it
SundaneseNasi timbelRice rolled hot in banana leaf, served with fried chicken, tofu, tempeh, salted fish, raw vegetables and sambal.No one here has made it yetSundaneseKaredokRaw vegetables — long beans, cucumber, sprouts, cabbage, small aubergines and lemon basil — in a peanut sauce sharp with kencur.No one here has made it yetSundanesePepes ikanFish rubbed with a yellow spice paste, wrapped in banana leaf with lemon basil, tomato and chilli, then steamed and grilled.No one here has made it yetSundaneseLalapan and sambal terasiRaw leaves and vegetables — cucumber, cabbage, lemon basil, long beans, small aubergines — with a sambal of chilli, toasted shrimp paste and tomato.No one here has made it yetMinahasanTinutuanA thick rice porridge full of pumpkin, sweet potato, cassava, corn and greens, with no meat, eaten with smoked fish and dabu-dabu.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
If you can't find it
Thai and Indonesian grocers, as bai maenglak or kemangi.
- The same, with a little lemon zestYou lose the lemony perfume, partly.
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Thai and Indonesian grocers, in summer especially. Thai sweet basil with a squeeze of lime is the closest swap.
- Worth knowing
- Add it off the heat; it turns dull and loses its lemon if it cooks.
