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Ingredient

celery

Also known as: Celery Stalk, Celery Stalks

A crisp, fibrous stalk vegetable with a mild, slightly bitter, savory flavor; eaten raw or used as a base aromatic -- along with onion and carrot -- in many soups and stews. Its high water content makes it cook down quickly and release liquid into whatever it's simmered in, which helps build a soup or stew's base flavor.

Buying guidance

Choose stalks that snap crisply when bent and feel tightly packed, not limp or rubbery -- limpness means moisture loss and a stringier bite. The stringy fibers running along the outer stalks can be pulled off with a knife or peeler for a smoother texture, especially in stalks meant to be eaten raw.

Substitutions

  • Fennel stalk -- similar crisp texture with a mild anise note instead of celery's bitterness.
  • Bok choy stem -- similar crunch and mild flavor as an aromatic base.
  • Extra onion and carrot -- fills the aromatic-base role reasonably well without celery's specific bitterness.

Tips & common mistakes

Large chunks meant to melt into a soup or braise's base still leave noticeably stringy bits, since celery's fibers don't break down at a typical simmer -- a fine dice is what actually disappears into a cooked base. The leaves carry a more concentrated celery flavor than the stalks and are worth chopping in as an herb rather than discarding.

Storage

Wrapped tightly in foil rather than left loose or in plastic, celery stays crisp in the refrigerator for several weeks instead of going limp within days -- the foil regulates moisture and gas exchange in a way plastic, which traps everything too tightly, doesn't.

Used in 17 recipes