Lemongrass - How to Use Lemongrass in Your Cooking

With lemongrass, very little is wasted. You can use the upper, reserved stalk to add even more flavor and fragrance to soups and curries. Simply make several superficial cuts along the length of the stalk with your serrated knife. Then, holding the lemongrass at either end, gently bend it several times to "bruise" it. This will release the fragrance and flavor. Now throw the stalk into your soup or curry pot.

(Be sure to warn guests the stalk is inedible. I once tried to eat one of these when I was new to Thai cuisine - I thought it was the polite thing to do. This was in Thailand, and of course everyone laughed at me!)