If you think that the only advantage of buckwheat is its low price, then you are cruelly mistaken. Buckwheat is one of the most useful products available to us: in Europe and the United States, buckwheat has only recently been discovered as another superfood, and everyone has known it since childhood. The composition of buckwheat is balanced and there is nothing superfluous in it: eating only buckwheat porridge, it is very easy to lose weight quickly, but at the same time your body will receive all the necessary substances. And when they tell me that buckwheat is not very tasty, I just shrug my shoulders. You just don’t know how to cook it.
What do you think should be the perfect buckwheat porridge? In my opinion, the answer is obvious: oily, crumbly, fragrant, with swollen, but not boiled grains. Today we will cook such buckwheat porridge. Pour buckwheat with water, cook for 20 minutes, season with oil and salt – the porridge is ready!
Well, now that we are no longer read by those who think that perfect buckwheat porridge can indeed be cooked in a matter of minutes, we will speak seriously: it is not difficult to cook buckwheat correctly, but it will take more time. For convenience, we will divide the whole process into three stages.
Rinse the buckwheat
Pour the buckwheat into a bowl, fill it with running water and rinse, trying to wash as much dust as possible with your hands, and at the same time looking for pebbles that could get caught among the buckwheat: it is better to get rid of them right away. Drain, add new water and repeat this process five times – until the flowing water becomes so clear that it can be drunk. Throw the buckwheat on a sieve and let the remaining water drain.
Calcine buckwheat
Buckwheat is calcined so that the finished porridge turns out to be more crumbly, and along the way the cereal acquires a more intense, nutty aroma. Sometimes oil or egg whites are added when calcining, but I like to roast buckwheat in a dry frying pan. Take a large skillet, place it on an above-medium heat and sprinkle buckwheat on top of it. No matter how well you dry the buckwheat after washing, some water will still remain on it. Fry buckwheat in a dry frying pan, stirring constantly, and you can clearly catch the moment when all the water evaporates – the buckwheat grains will suddenly stop sticking to each other, begin to crumble along the bottom of the pan with a quiet dry rustle. Don’t yawn here: heat the grains for another 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly, buckwheat should be in motion, not stick to the bottom, but when you smell this incomparable nutty aroma, remove the pan from the heat.
Cook buckwheat
In the absence of a Russian stove, the best tool for cooking buckwheat is an oven, the best dishes are a pot, ceramic or cast iron. Any saucepan will do, of course, but a pot is preferable: due to the low thermal conductivity of ceramics, the porridge in the pot is not cooked, but slowly languishes. Pour buckwheat into such a pot, add a pinch of salt, fill with hot water and close the lid. Place the pot in an oven preheated to 180 degrees, immediately reduce the temperature to 110 degrees and leave the pot in the oven for three hours. After that, buckwheat is ready, but it would be nice to leave the pot in the oven after turning it off, so that it slowly cools down inside. Serve your perfect buckwheat porridge with butter, and if that sounds too easy for you, here are some ideas for what you can add to your porridge to make it tastier:
- Fry the mushrooms in oil, add the chopped hard-boiled egg and finely chopped herbs.
- Melt the chopped bacon and fry the finely chopped onions in it.
- Serve buckwheat as a side dish with any gravy dishes.
- Pour in hot milk and add a spoonful of sugar – my childhood favorite food!
- Use milk, broth, or mushroom broth instead of water.
How to cook buckwheat correctly
Buckwheat is one of the most popular and at the same time simple dishes. It can be cooked in just 15 minutes, and many people do not even think about the existing cooking technologies.
Therefore, it is worth figuring out how to cook buckwheat correctly, how much water to add and what tricks exist.
Cooking time
To get a simple crumbly buckwheat, boil it in a saucepan for 15 minutes. If you want to get a more cooked version, then it should be cooked for 20 minutes.
Many people make the mistake of not timing. The readiness of buckwheat “by eye” is not so easy to determine, except that it has already been digested.
What are the proportions of water
The optimal ratio is one to two. This means that you need to add 2 glasses of water to a glass of buckwheat.
Of course, if you need well-cooked buckwheat, the amount of water can be increased. But, if there is too much of it, the cooking technology will be disrupted, and this will definitely not be beneficial.
How to cook properly
The groats must be carefully sorted out. Even in peeled buckwheat, you can find pebbles or grains that have not opened.
Therefore, buckwheat must always be carefully sorted out. Don’t forget about flushing. To get rid of all impurities, buckwheat must be washed at least 2 times.
To enhance the taste, some recommend heating it in a pan for 3-5 minutes. It is important to make sure that it is not burnt. Pre-frying should definitely be used at least once, thanks to this it will turn out to achieve a new taste and aroma.
For cooking, you need to use a saucepan with thick walls. If the bottom is thin, buckwheat may start to burn. Particular attention should be paid to the choice of water. For some reason, some people use plumbing, and this is a gross mistake. Buckwheat during cooking absorbs harmful substances and chlorine. Therefore, the use of purified water without chlorine is a key condition.
How to cook crumbly porridge
The main mistake is the definition of proportions “by eye”. Because of this, it will not be possible to cook tasty and healthy porridge. It is not difficult to take a glass or other container to determine the correct ratio.
Buckwheat should be sent to cold water, after boiling, the fire decreases and everything is boiled for 15 minutes. During the cooking process, buckwheat can be left alone, and it is better not to open the lid. She prepares well on her own, no additional intervention is required.
After cooking, do not put it on the plate right away. There is one secret: you need to wrap the pan in a blanket for 10 minutes. This time will be enough for the porridge to brew well. Next, you need to add salt, butter and other ingredients.
How to cook a viscous porridge
To prepare it, you need to use a ratio of 1 to 4. Cooking time – 35 minutes. You need to salt the porridge after cooking.
Of course, if buckwheat is cooked for a long time, at least once it should be gently stirred. You also need to monitor the amount of water. There are situations when water boils away and buckwheat starts to burn.