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Gypsy shamisen?
Apr. 12th, 2007 05:26 pmFor your enjoyment, the Fishtank Ensemble
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5k2W3QecL8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5k2W3QecL8
Apr. 12th, 2007
Millet and sweet potato congee
Apr. 12th, 2007 06:08 pmMillet-Sweet Potato Congee
http://www.recipezaar.com/113224
The Samurai From The Outlands, hearing that millet was a staple in feudal Japan, began a thread on the Tousando about it. This adaptation of a Northern Chinese millet porridge recipe sounded intriguing, so I shopped with it in mind this week.
I chose to toast the millet on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees until I could smell it in the other room (10 minutes, maybe), then laid a dishtowel in my colander, poured the millet into it, rinsed and strained it through the towel.
The recipe uses about half a decent sized sweet potato. Unlike the orange yams one normally sees at Thanksgiving, the Asian sweet potato I acquired at Nob Hill Foods has a rosy skin and the inside is as hard and yellowish white as an unbaked Idaho.
I also went with two slices of ginger instead of one because I LIKE ginger. I completely forgot the need for stick cinnamon while shopping, so I added a generous shake of powdered once the mixture started setting up.
The final result is, not surprisingly, the texture of couscous. Toasting lent the millet a nutty flavor that's quite pleasant. If you are expecting this to be really sweet, it's not. It's nowhere near as sweet as commercial flavored oatmeals, for example. It's much subtler. The flavor of the sweet potato itself is very delicate and the millet sucks up the ginger, cinnamon and honey very thoroughly. I would imagine that one could be more generous with the proportions of the flavorings if one wanted. For that matter, a different variety of sweet potato, carrot (which can cook up quite sweet) or even apple, might be interesting if one wanted to experiment.
This recipe cooks up into enough millet to serve six - or the entire village, which means we can use the rice to pay those nice samurai who are going to keep us safe from bandits. I loaded up the leftovers into a plastic container and slammed the lid on while still hot to see if the resulting condensation will keep it from turning into adobe - because, of course, I was cooking for one. (It worked when I made onigiri, so we'll see. I abhor waste.)
Cooking time is under an hour. I would imagine putting the millet in water before bedtime to soak would reduce cooking time significantly.
It's extremely filling. I ate a rice-bowl's worth for dinner and felt quite full - and in case anyone was wondering, it's sticky enough to eat with chopsticks.
http://www.recipezaar.com/113224
The Samurai From The Outlands, hearing that millet was a staple in feudal Japan, began a thread on the Tousando about it. This adaptation of a Northern Chinese millet porridge recipe sounded intriguing, so I shopped with it in mind this week.
I chose to toast the millet on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees until I could smell it in the other room (10 minutes, maybe), then laid a dishtowel in my colander, poured the millet into it, rinsed and strained it through the towel.
The recipe uses about half a decent sized sweet potato. Unlike the orange yams one normally sees at Thanksgiving, the Asian sweet potato I acquired at Nob Hill Foods has a rosy skin and the inside is as hard and yellowish white as an unbaked Idaho.
I also went with two slices of ginger instead of one because I LIKE ginger. I completely forgot the need for stick cinnamon while shopping, so I added a generous shake of powdered once the mixture started setting up.
The final result is, not surprisingly, the texture of couscous. Toasting lent the millet a nutty flavor that's quite pleasant. If you are expecting this to be really sweet, it's not. It's nowhere near as sweet as commercial flavored oatmeals, for example. It's much subtler. The flavor of the sweet potato itself is very delicate and the millet sucks up the ginger, cinnamon and honey very thoroughly. I would imagine that one could be more generous with the proportions of the flavorings if one wanted. For that matter, a different variety of sweet potato, carrot (which can cook up quite sweet) or even apple, might be interesting if one wanted to experiment.
This recipe cooks up into enough millet to serve six - or the entire village, which means we can use the rice to pay those nice samurai who are going to keep us safe from bandits. I loaded up the leftovers into a plastic container and slammed the lid on while still hot to see if the resulting condensation will keep it from turning into adobe - because, of course, I was cooking for one. (It worked when I made onigiri, so we'll see. I abhor waste.)
Cooking time is under an hour. I would imagine putting the millet in water before bedtime to soak would reduce cooking time significantly.
It's extremely filling. I ate a rice-bowl's worth for dinner and felt quite full - and in case anyone was wondering, it's sticky enough to eat with chopsticks.