Culantro Garlic Butter - Ethnic Foods R Us

If you like the foods from Trinidad and other Caribbean countries, you will want to have some Culantro Garlic Butter on hand. It’s used as a spread, for basting, as a condiment, etc. The culantro (different from “cilantro”) is what gives it its distinctive and elegantly pungent flavor. If you can’t find it ready made, this Culantro Garlic Butter recipe is easy to make. Also, if you cannot find culantro in your local food stores, we suggest you keep some growing at home. The herb grows without need of much tending, and is a splendid flavor to have in the kitchen. To purchase some seeds, or even a couple live plants, click here.

(Photo Attributed to Author: Rainer Z …)

Culantro Garlic Butter Recipe-

Ingredients:

10 large cloves garlic
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshly chopped culantro
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon honey
3-1/2 tsp. granulated white cane sugar
1 or 2 Scotch Bonnet yellow or orange chili peppers, rough chopped (optional, if you want your culantro garlic butter to have a kick to it as well. These peppers are hot, so keep your personal tastes in mind. My preference is 1-1/2 peppers, with the seeds removed. The seeds are where most of the heat comes from.)

Directions:

Put into an electric blender or food processor the honey, sugar, salt, garlic and vinegar, (also the Scotch Bonnet, if using) and puree on high speed for a minute.
With the device still running, on medium speed, little by little drizzle in the olive oil. When all the oil is in, keep blending until you have the consistency of a slightly runny mayonnaise.
Next, add in the culantro. Process until completely broken down if you want a completely smooth yellowish color and not see any specks of the herb at all. It’s your choice, some people like the little specks of green in their butter. Either way the taste is the same.
Store it in a sealed container in the fridge, where it will keep for weeks.
Culantro Garlic Butter is great for basting grilled meats and seafoods. Also you can drizzle it over French fries, and any kind of sandwich that call for mayonnaise you can substitute culantro garlic butter, too.