Destem Cilantro With A Colander

This is a trick I learned a long time ago in the restaurant business, De-Stemming Cilantro With A Colander, SAY WHAT? In my late teens/early 20’s, I worked three jobs while going to college and living on my own. Bookkeeper, Waitress, and always a side gig. (not what your thinking haha) I would wake up at the crack of dawn, stop at the bakery, fill my car, and deliver baked goods to all the professionals in different parts of San Diego. Nights I would go to the florist, pack my car with flowers and sell them at all of the local restaurants, that job got super sketchy so I had to quit. I was also fortunate enough to usually have clients that I dog sat, house sat, and nannied their kids. Somehow I was able to have a bunch of fun in between. I think having to hustle so much really taught me the value of a dollar, hence why we have instilled certain values in our kids.

I know people love cilantro or hate it, I love it but am not a fan of the stems so if you are like me, this tutorial is for you. One of the things I learned working in a restaurant was cilantro is DIRTY so always make sure you wash it thoroughly!Directions

Holding the cilantro by the stems, submerge it in water and swish it around making sure to get all the dirt off.
Dry with paper towels or if you have a lot of cilantro, a salad spinner would work perfectly.

Here comes the fun part!

Thread the cilantro stems through a colander’s holes and pull them through, that’s it! The leaves will stay in the colander and you can throw the stems in the trash.

You can also use a cheese grater, simply feed the stem of your cilantro from the outside of the grater into the center. If you don’t have either one of these tools, take a fork, hold the stem end of the bunch, and comb through with a fork.

Whichever method you use, don’t use too many stems in one hole. Feeding one to a few stems at a time will give you better results. You can also use this with other herbs like parsley and dill, just pick the appropriate size hole for the type of herb you are using.