How to cook buckwheat perfectly: cooking secrets, useful tips, recipe from HarmonDrive

It is difficult to find a more healthy, tasty, nutritious, and, importantly, easy to prepare product than buckwheat. Especially when it comes to Russia, where buckwheat is considered a universal food. Whatever we are talking about: quick cooking or a complex delicacy for the holiday table, a dietary dish or stuffing the same chicken – it’s all buckwheat. It is purchased as a reserve; a bag of buckwheat will always be included in the universal grocery set. This cereal takes pride of place both in sports nutrition stores and on the shelves of exotic products, if buckwheat, for example, is green.

In Russia, this grain is a kind of standard of financial stability, the equivalent of the ruble exchange rate, an indicator of crises and inflation. If there is an abundance of buckwheat in stores and the price is not rising, then everything is fine with the Russian economy; if buckwheat has begun to disappear from the shelves, and the price has jumped up, there is cause for concern.

Well, we don’t need to remind you about how delicious buckwheat is, how suitable it is for literally everyone to eat. You just need to cook it correctly.

How to cook buckwheat, taking into account all the subtleties of cooking – in the material “MK”.

Before you start cooking buckwheat, you need to choose the right grain. It would seem that it is simple. But no! As a rule, there are several types of buckwheat on store shelves. This is, firstly, the kernel (whole grain). It is worth noting that the first and highest grade kernels must contain less than one percent of low-quality grain. Usually, stores sell kernels that have already been steamed. This process increases the shelf life of the product, but reduces its usefulness – some important substances are destroyed during heat treatment.

Typically, the kernel is used in the preparation of crumbly porridges, stuffing and side dishes.

In addition to kernels, quite often on store shelves there is a type of buckwheat called “prodel”. It can be steamed or unsteamed. Suitable for making viscous porridge, as well as meatballs and casseroles.

You can find buckwheat cereal in the store in the form of flakes – this is an instant porridge; usually you just need to pour boiling water over it and let it brew.

It is worth explaining separately what the most exotic type of this cereal is – green buckwheat. The cereal will have such an unusual color if it has not been subjected to the steaming process. Green buckwheat contains a maximum of useful substances, but has a specific taste. Amateurs consume it, adding it to salads, soups, or simply boiled. This type of cereal is also suitable for sprouting.

The most standard way to cook buckwheat is to cook it in a saucepan.

It would seem that cooking buckwheat in a saucepan does not represent any special work. It is enough to rinse the cereal, add water in a ratio of 1:2, add salt, put on medium heat and cook for yourself. All that remains is to wait for the result. On average, the porridge will be ready in half an hour. At the same time, it’s good to keep in mind that buckwheat doubles in size when boiled, so for a side dish for three or four diners, it will be enough to take a couple of glasses of dry cereal for cooking.

However, as we know, much is hidden in the details. The final result depends on what kind of pan you cook buckwheat in.

It is best to take a pan with a thick bottom for cooking buckwheat. And definitely with a lid. Thus, a cast iron pan will be the ideal container for cooking. In cast iron, buckwheat will also turn out especially crumbly. A cast iron cauldron can be used to cook buckwheat on the stove, as well as in the oven and, which is especially tasty, in the oven. Since a pure cast iron pan is not the most popular type of cookware today, you should opt for a non-stick or enameled cast iron pan – they are easier to clean after cooking buckwheat.

Buckwheat will turn out delicious in a stainless steel pan, but you should pay attention to the bottom – it should be thick. But after cooking, it is better to transfer buckwheat from an aluminum pan – the metal can react with the product, which will make the porridge darken and become tasteless.

When cooking buckwheat, the water should be only slightly salted; when asking yourself the question “how much salt to put in”, you must remember that, unlike rice, this grain does not like it in excess, and then we proceed according to taste. It is better to calcinate the cereal itself before cooking, but if you cook buckwheat with milk, you do not need to do this. After cooking, you need to give the buckwheat time to get a little tired under the lid, then add butter to the pan, stir and keep the finished dish covered for 10-15 minutes – your porridge will become especially crumbly.

Cooking buckwheat in the oven requires special utensils. In this case, it is worth using ceramic cookware, heat-resistant glass cookware, cast iron cookware and thick foil cookware. In fact, cooking buckwheat in the oven is the best way. There, the cereal boils as much as possible, becomes the most crumbly and gives a head start to porridge cooked on the stove. To achieve the closest possible version to cooking buckwheat in an oven, you should put the cereal in the oven for a longer time – one and a half, maybe two hours, and set the temperature to 160 degrees. The proportions remain the same – 1:2.

It is in the oven that it is good to cook buckwheat with various vegetable additives – onions, carrots, peppers. Vegetables should be fried in advance in vegetable oil or a mixture of vegetable and butter.

You can cook buckwheat in the microwave. To do this, you need to use special dishes designed for microwaves. You need to wait until the water boils and cook the cereal at full power for 10-20 minutes, depending on the type of microwave. The proportions remain the same – 1:2.

Cooking buckwheat in a multicooker is distinguished by the fact that not all appliances have a mode for cooking buckwheat. However, many modes are suitable for cooking buckwheat in a multicooker. In particular, “steam”, “stewing” or simply “multi-cook”. Cooking buckwheat in a slow cooker takes about 50 minutes, sometimes about an hour, including the time for boiling water. Buckwheat in the given proportions of 1:2 can be added a little less, since the boiling time of the water will be longer and more intense.

It is worth paying special attention to cooking buckwheat with milk. You should not use milk alone for this. It is better to put the buckwheat in boiling water, let the cereal boil for about 10 minutes, drain the remaining water, then add milk and bring the cereal until cooked.

You can change the taste of buckwheat by lightly frying it before cooking. In this case, buckwheat should be cooked in a deep frying pan with a lid and after frying the cereal, simply add water to it and then cook as usual.

Buckwheat is a favorite product of everyone who follows a healthy lifestyle or is trying, for example, to lose weight. The thing is that buckwheat contains a lot of fiber and does not have fast carbohydrates. It is also a favorite dish of those who fast.

Buckwheat can be eaten in its pure form, with milk, with sunflower oil and sugar, with butter and cream. It is also prepared in the form of casseroles. Buckwheat cooked with meat is especially popular. Buckwheat with liver can be considered one of the healthiest recipes.

And we offer our readers the most unusual recipe with buckwheat. The group “Garmon Drive”, a vocal and instrumental group of harmonica virtuosos, shared it with MK readers.

Buckwheat cabbage rolls with wild mushrooms

For such unusual, but very aromatic cabbage rolls, any wild mushrooms are suitable. It’s especially tasty, of course, with porcini mushrooms. Chanterelles and any combination of them are also good.

For three servings you will need:

White cabbage – ½ head

Buckwheat – 4 tablespoons

Porcini mushrooms, chanterelles, boletus mushrooms, honey mushrooms, etc. – 150 g

Onion – 1 head

Carrots – 1 piece

Tomato juice – 1 glass

Salt, ground black pepper, herbs, sour cream – to taste

Bay leaf – 1 piece

Cut the onion into small cubes, grate the carrots. Fry vegetables with a small amount of vegetable oil until cooked. Half will go into the filling, half into the sauce.

Finely chop the mushrooms and fry until tender. Mix with half the vegetables.

Boil the buckwheat until almost done, do not overcook. Stir into mushroom mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the stalk from the cabbage and place the head of cabbage in boiling water. Remove the top leaves one at a time when they become soft. Cut off the thick core from each.

Cool everything.

Place the filling in a cabbage leaf and roll the cabbage rolls into an envelope.

If desired, lightly fry each cabbage roll on both sides. This way the taste of the dish will be brighter.

Place in a baking dish or pan.

For the sauce, mix tomato juice with water and the remaining vegetables, season and add bay leaf. Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls.

Simmer in the oven or on the stove until the cabbage is ready.

Serve with herbs and sour cream.