Using fresh corriander

[LoveSantaAu]

I love the taste of coriander - it adds a real freshness to food.

When we buy a bunch of it, I use the leaves and stems and sometimes use the roots. I have heard the strongest flavour comes from the roots but I find it a fussy task to prepare the roots so sometimes throw the roots into the compost.

How do you prepare the roots? I trim/scrape the root hairs and cut off the dirt encrusted knob nearest the stems, but I'm not sure if that's correct,

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I have to confess of never having heard of using coriander roots before, so had to go off and do some research.

Milder in flavor and aroma than their leafy tops, cilantro roots provide a delicate herbal note and a plush, moist texture to curry pastes, bringing pungent ingredients like chiles, garlic, and galangal into a harmonious, flavor-packed whole.

Various sources say to scrap off the minor roots after washing off the soil, then to simply scrap off the skin and outer stalks before cutting the root off with about 1cm of stalk still attached and use that as you would normally.

For those unable to obtain coriander with roots, the same flavour can be achieved by substituting 1 root for 10 stems and preparing in the same manner.