I consider fresh herbs to be a necessary part of my life.
Korea has some great fresh veggies, however the only “familiar” herbs you will find in supermarkets is (sometimes) parsley (on a good day). It makes sense, because basil, oregano, and certainly cilantro are not used in typical Korean recipes. That means that if you can find them anywhere, you need to snatch them, and FAST. Fortunately a friend here found a website( grfarm.co.kr) that delivers fresh herbs right to your door for cheap! However, they are given to you in bulk, which means that you either need to eat 2 pounds of cilantro in a day, or you need to somehow preserve them (I prefer the latter). According to her the website itself isn't too bad, but payment is a pain, so definitely do the "bank transfer" option if you are ordering from them!
I have previously used “ice tray” method to freeze fresh herbs, where I would chop them up, stuff them in an ice cube tray, and pour a little water or olive oil over the top. It worked just fine, but it was hard to measure out exactly how much I needed, and I also didn’t like the excess liquid frozen in with the herbs. So, I now use a different, and way better, method.
Start by washing your herbs thoroughly. Don’t worry about drying them. After washing, you can chop off the stems or pick off the leaves. I chop off the bottom part of the stem, but I usually don’t take the time to pick every leaf off the stem, except with basil.
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, and lay a single layer of herbs on top. Pop it in the freezer, and wait at least two hours to take it out. Since herbs are so thin, they don’t take long to freeze at all! Pull your tray out of the freezer, and fold up the aluminum foil so that your herbs will fit in a zip-lock baggie. I like this method because folding the foil creates nice little separated layers of herbs that fit in a small space!
Here’s a pic of some basil I previously froze to show you what I mean:
There you have it! You now have access to fresh herbs any time you want! The texture might be different if you are eating them uncooked, however once you cook them you’ll find no difference in texture or taste!
What's your favorite way to preserve fresh herbs?