While looking for mint, basil and cilantro at our local grocery store (to use in my grilled veggie salad), Tim and I unknowingly stumbled upon a new (to us) herb: lemon basil.
I saw a bundle of it it tucked in the greens section, which is a tangle of some familiar and some unknown greens marked haphazardly in English, Bahasa Indonesia and Japanese. It looked basil-esque, so I picked it up and gave it a sniff, only to inhale an awesomely fragrant lemony scent. Once the produce guy (who is my new BFF, as I ask him the name of a new veggie or herb every time I shop there and he obligingly informs me of the name in at least 4 different languages) rang it up, I saw that it was called "daun kemangi." Apparently it's used pretty regularly in Indonesian cooking and, since it's local, it's dirt cheap: a massive bundle for 2590 rupiah, which is the equivalent of 27 U.S. cents.
Anywho, I dropped some of it in the salad, and then had a ton left over. David Lebovitz and "The Perfect Scoop" to the rescue, yet again. He had a recipe for basil ice cream spiked with lemon zest, so I followed his recipe, substituting lemon basil for the traditional Genovese basil. Awesome stuff- creamy, lemony (somewhat lemongrassy), herby, sweet. A good accompaniment to spicy Asian dishes, I'd say. Get thee to thy green grocer or farmer's market and find some lemon basil!
