Thai Kaffir Lime Leaf Experiment

[Spidey]

For those of you who cook with these (Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian and Fillipino dishes), you know how hit or miss they can be to find, and are usually frozen. I ordered some seeds from Thailand and managed to get a few to sprout. Fast forward 2 years and we now have fresh lime leaves for curries, fish cakes, soups, etc. Lots of experimenting involved with a lot of failures, but I think I've got the formula dialed in!

At 2 months:


At 6 months


At 2 years

[calgarychef]

I can only imagine how yummy those are. A worthy experiment.
Now you need bay leaf

[Spidey]

You read my mind. I'm planning to try Bay and Curry leaf plants next.

[Dewey Cox]

Forgive my complete ignorance on the subject...
Are those lime trees?
Or is lime leaf a different plant?

[Spidey]

Originally Posted by Dewey Cox

Forgive my complete ignorance on the subject...
Are those lime trees?
Or is lime leaf a different plant?

Yes, they are Kaffir (Magrut) Lime trees. These trees are known for the fragrant and tasty leaves they produce to season SE Asisan dishes. The fruit/limes they produce are very sour compared to regular lime trees. Some people use the juice or zest from Kaffir limes in cooking but they are more popular to use in skin and hair products in Asia.

My trees are likely another year out from producing limes, but it's the leaves I grew them for.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_lime

[KGB]

Originally Posted by Spidey

You read my mind. I'm planning to try Bay and Curry leaf plants next.

Nah, skip those ones and jump right into the coca….That will make you all happy, lol!

[Spidey]

Originally Posted by KGB

Nah, skip those ones and jump right into the coca….That will make you all happy, lol!

Ha! I think I'd need a MUCH bigger living room for that!

Although, we had lots of Coca leaf tea in Peru. Works really well for altitude sickness...

[EZM]

Originally Posted by KGB

Nah, skip those ones and jump right into the coca….That will make you all happy, lol!

and potentially very rich ............ just don't get caught !!!!!!!

Reminds me of a story when my grandma brought poppy plant seeds into Canada (late 70's?). In the old country, the bulbs would be cut with a razor, the resin that oozes out would be used in Chamomile tea for all sorts of things like soothing teething for a baby (soak a clean wash cloth it in resin and chamomile tea for teething) to headaches, nausea, etc... A miracle cure from the old country.

Unfortunately this is the same poppy they make Heroin from.

People like my grandma from the old country simply were oblivious to what they were bring into their luggage from overseas. Innocently and without ill intent.

Yup - my grandma was a heroin smuggler.

[Dewey Cox]

Parenting was a lot easier when you could give your babies opium.

[walking buffalo]

Great looking plants Spidey!
Fresh is always by far the best.

Originally Posted by EZM

and potentially very rich ............ just don't get caught !!!!!!!

Reminds me of a story when my grandma brought poppy plant seeds into Canada (late 70's?). In the old country, the bulbs would be cut with a razor, the resin that oozes out would be used in Chamomile tea for all sorts of things like soothing teething for a baby (soak a clean wash cloth it in resin and chamomile tea for teething) to headaches, nausea, etc... A miracle cure from the old country.

Unfortunately this is the same poppy they make Heroin from.

People like my grandma from the old country simply were oblivious to what they were bring into their luggage from overseas. Innocently and without ill intent.

Yup - my grandma was a heroin smuggler.

Baba and Guido grew Opium Poppies throughout the vegetable garden and around the fruit trees, in the middle of Vernon.
Of course they knew these were the source plant for heroin, as did your Grandma.

Year after year the RCMP would come to cut them down, some years in time, more often not.

Her Poppyseed cake was the BEST!, I'm still hooked on it.

[calgarychef]

I’ll bet there’s a good local market for fresh lime leaves…restaurants would love them

[fishnguy]

Originally Posted by Dewey Cox

Parenting was a lot easier when you could give your babies opium.

Lol. That’s true.

[Rickster123]

Originally Posted by Spidey

For those of you who cook with these (Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian and Fillipino dishes), you know how hit or miss they can be to find, and are usually frozen. I ordered some seeds from Thailand and managed to get a few to sprout. Fast forward 2 years and we now have fresh lime leaves for curries, fish cakes, soups, etc. Lots of experimenting involved with a lot of failures, but I think I've got the formula dialed in!

At 2 months:


At 6 months


At 2 years

Where did you get your seeds? I checked on Amazon and most sellers get poor reviews because seeds don't get delivered or don't sprout.
Rick

Where did you get your seeds? I checked on Amazon and most sellers get poor reviews due to seeds not sprouting

[Spidey]

Originally Posted by Rickster123

Where did you get your seeds? I checked on Amazon and most sellers get poor reviews because seeds don't get delivered or don't sprout.
Rick

Where did you get your seeds? I checked on Amazon and most sellers get poor reviews due to seeds not sprouting

I ordered them on Etsy. There are quite a few suppliers in Thailand who sell on that platform (I chose my vendors based on reviews). Etsy seems to be a better source for fresher, more reliable seeds sent directly from growers vs. reselling through Amazon. IIRC, 50 seeds came to about $10-$15CDN which included shipping.

Getting them to sprout is half the battle for sure. For me, the 'wet paper towel' method on a heat mat yeilded the highest percentage of sprouting (approx. 30%) vs other methods such as direct planting in soil. I also soaked the seeds for a few hours and pulled off the hard out layer of the seed before sprouting.

On a side note, I took a stab at ordering lemongrass seeds but failed miserably getting them to take hold after sprouting...

[Grizzly Adams1]

Just so you know.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_(racial_term)

Grizz