Shake the herbs upside down.
Now if any of the leaves drop,
then the bunch has been kept for a little bit too long.
G'day guys, it's Thanh the Fruit Nerd,
and today I'm gonna teach you how to pick the freshest
soft-leaf herbs, like coriander, spring onion, and basil.
Now a great herb needs to be really aromatic,
and the aroma comes from the leaves, and if you crush a leaf
from 15 centimetres away from your nose,
the oil should shatter into the air
and you should be able to smell it from this distance.
If you're like me and you were taught when you were young
to be very thrifty and to buy the bunch of herbs
which is the longest and the biggest to get the most value,
well, you could be doing yourself a disservice,
because the smaller, thinner herbs are actually younger,
and younger herbs are more herbaceous and less stringy.
And so they've got better texture and fragrance.
So how do you pick a good bunch of herbs?
Well, shake the herbs upside down.
Now if any of the leaves drop,
then the bunch has been kept for a little bit too long,
because as it ages, the leaves will weaken,
and so they'll fall off really easily.
But if they're holding on really tight,
then it's still fresh and really aromatic.
Many people store herbs in water, just like here.
So the problem with storing herbs in water is
after a couple of hours,
the water channels at the base block,
and so they start to break down and rot.
Herbs that still have their roots attached
can be stored in water,
and that's because the roots absorb water,
and so if you actually put a spring onion
in a glass of water,
not only will keep the spring onion alive,
but the spring onion will continue to grow.
All right, let's grab a couple of bunches.
Let me take you out back
and I'm gonna show you how to store your herbs at home.
Now herbs are made out of 60 per cent or more water,
so we wanna protect our herbs from wind and moisture loss,
and we're gonna do that by using an airtight container.
You're gonna get a damp towel,
place it inside the container.
And then grab your bunch of herbs,
make sure the bunch of herbs is still intact to the stems.
The stems are actually holding a lot of water
and keeping those leaves nice and moist and aromatic.
So you grab your bunch of herbs,
place it inside the damp towel, fold the damp towel,
and you're creating a humid environment
for that herb to thrive and stay fresh,
and close it up, and voila.
So soft-leaf herbs like coriander, mint, dill, parsley,
and chives need to go in the fridge
because they thrive in cooler temperatures
between one to five degrees.
But whatever you do, don't put basil in the fridge,
because basil is a warm-temperature herb,
and it can't stand the cold.
By putting it in the fridge,
it'll shock it and burn the leaves.
If you know it's gonna take you a long time
to finish your bunch of herbs, well, here's a tip for you.
Grab an ice cube tray, grab your herbs,
use only the leaves, and place them into the ice cubes,
and whether you're gonna cook with it
or use it in a different sense,
like for a gin and tonic or whatnot,
fill it with either water or olive oil and freeze it,
and whenever you need to,
just take each cube and use it as needed.
If you wanna rip all the herb leaves off really quickly,
grab the top of the stem, and then with your other hand,
slide down and rip all the leaves off.
And there you go.
Here's a Fruit Nerd tip.
Spring onions need to be about eight millimetres thick
in diameter at the base
to have the perfect balance of spiciness and aroma.
If they're any thicker, they'll be bland,
and if they're any smaller,
they won't have any spice factor to them.
Wherever you are, I hope these tips help you eat well,
because my motto is that good food starts with good produce,
and there's no substitute for fresh herbs.