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| On the online sales site Amazon, lemon leaves are sometimes priced at around 28 USD/100g. (Source: Vietnamnet) |
Lemon leaves are the leaves of the lemon tree, which have a distinctive aroma when crushed or chopped. This is a very familiar leaf to Vietnamese people, often used as a spice. People often use lemon leaves to sprinkle on boiled chicken.
Kaffir lime leaves have a stronger aroma than Vietnamese kaffir lime leaves, are more sour but do not become bitter or lose their aroma when cooked for too long. This type of leaf is used in Thai cuisine such as Thai soup, Thai fish cakes, Thai hot pot, etc.
Lemon leaves can be used fresh or dried depending on your needs. Housewives can store fresh lemon leaves in the freezer for later use.
With old lemon leaves, people often remove the veins and stems and tear the leaves into small pieces to avoid bitterness, then dry and crush them before use.
Depending on the variety of lemon, the shape of the leaves can be different. The leaves of the Vietnamese lemon tree are egg-shaped, looking like orange leaves with a length of 2.5-9cm. The leaves of the Thai lemon tree are lanceolate or oval, dark green, with very wide petioles and large leaf blades.
In Vietnam, lemon is a popular tree. Lemon trees are very easy to grow. We can find lemon trees everywhere.
The lime tree is a shrub, about 5 meters high with many thorns. Dwarf varieties are more popular among gardeners in Vietnam.
The lemon tree trunk rarely grows straight but branches out from near the base. The lemon flowers are 2.5cm in diameter, white to yellow, with light purple veins. The tree flowers and bears fruit all year round but bears the most fruit from May to September. The fruit ripens 5-6 months after the flowers bloom.
In Vietnam, people are more interested in and use lemons than lemon leaves. Lemons are used to make soft drinks.
Vietnamese farmers rarely consider kaffir lime leaves as a source of income. Kaffir lime leaves are easy to buy, easy to find, and can even be begged for. In many places, kaffir lime leaves are not sold or, if they are sold, they are "as cheap as free". In the city market, kaffir lime leaves are very cheap, only 1,000-2,000 VND/bunch.
But abroad, lemon leaves are sold at quite high prices.
On the online shopping site Amazon, lemon leaves are sometimes priced at around $28/100g.
On the UK agricultural products website Wattsfarms, lemon leaves are sold for £3.99 for 15g, equivalent to more than 120,000 VND/15g and more than 8 million VND/kg.
Lemon leaves exported to foreign markets are commonly packaged in two ways. The spice form is packaged together with galangal, chili and lemongrass products. The regular form is just packaged lemon leaves in small bags and completely frozen. Vietnamese lemon leaves are favored by the European market because they are more fragrant and flavorful than lemon leaves from other countries.
Perhaps because of the large profits from this common leaf, several years ago, some companies collected dozens of tons of lemon leaves to export to the European market, earning millions of USD.
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