The whole house smells of bean juice with trays of hatcho miso and buckets of beans soaking in water. At this point, all windows have to be opened or else one can get over-whelmed by the fart smell of bean. What better reason to take a look outside and tell you what interesting things are happening on the farm.
First of all, one jackfruit tree has started bearing this year:
Jackfruit on Tree.
We were not sure how to check for ripe fruit so we had to look up information on it; apparently, you can harvest them when they are green and to speed up maturity you can place it in the sun. When ripe, the outer shell is suppose to crack with firm pressure placed on it. Well, we have one of these babies getting a nice sun-tan outside and we can’t wait to eat it! Jackfruit can get to a massive size (20kgs or 50lbs)…our are a modest 15lb (7kgs) in weight.
The kenep has just been flowering. It has a lovely smell of vanilla which attracts honey bees. Kenep fruit are similar to lychee in that there is an outer shell which you crack into with your teeth and then you bite into a thin soft flesh around a seed. The great thing about this is that the seeds can be boiled and eaten. So far, still no sign of fruit this year..
Kenep Flowers.
This is a grub that we found whilst digging around for sweet potatoes. In Australia, they call them “Witchety Grubs” and traditionally they are eaten raw. Gnome has eaten one before and said that it wasn’t that good…a bit over-rated!
Witchety Grub.
We tried to throw this at a duckie and she looked at us in a “duckie” way…a sideways neophobic and partially horrified look…
Duckie Look.
Looks like she doesn’t know what to do with the Witchety Grub!
Just the other day, Gnome had mentioned that we seemed to be eating beans everyday. Like a good Chinese woman, I blinked once and then placidly ignored his comment. I am sure that all of you out there will understand that once in a while, especially during wild intense times of fermentation madness, one can get rather tired and have little energy left to cook fanciful foods daily. Hence the reason why I haven’t been posting up recipes lately.
However, Gnome added insult to injury and did a big whopper of a bungle. During Hatcho Miso preparation, he over-cooked a tonne of black beans which could not be used for miso making. He left me with 40 cups (22 lbs or 10 kgs) of mushy black beans and urged me to “make them go away, please.”
Over-cooked Black Beans.
And so with a teeny little ounce of creativity which I squeezed out by sheer willpower, I managed to create a recipe with the excess black beans. They are bean burgers made with home-made coconut flour and rice flour; they are especially spicy with whole black peppers and chilli peppers. I have called them Bean Bungle Burgers.
Bean Bungle Burgers.
When we sat down to eat last night, Gnome rather sheepishly said, “the beans are good.” I smiled and gave him a Chinese woman approving nod.
Making Coconut cream and flour involves quite a few steps, a little muscle, time and diligence. When you do everything from scratch, you realise the value of what you are actually making. The making of the cream and flour go hand in hand as you will see from the following steps:
Firstly, Gnome has to climb a coconut tree to harvest and then he de-husks them. Next, he splits them in half and grates the flesh with a shredder attached to a hand-drill.
Grating Coconuts.
The next step is to squeeze the liquid out of the coconut. I usually add some boiling water to the coconut and I squeeze the shredded coconut through a muslin cloth to get all the milk and cream out. This is done in small portions in order to maximise the quantity and once all the milk/cream has been extracted, the shredded coconut is placed in trays and laid outside to sun-dry.
Coconut Meal Ready For Drying.
Meanwhile, the liquid is placed in the fridge and as it cools down, the milk separates to the bottom and the cream forms a layer a the top. The cream is skimmed off the top, a number of times, and poured into these bags for selling:
Coconut Cream For Sale.
Each bag contains the fresh cream of one coconut. Belizeans like to cook rice with this; a Belizean cook in Punta Gorda told me that he just needed one of these bags to cook a 5lb pot of rice. Another great way to use this cream is to indulge in a pina colada or blend with fruit to make a yummy coconut “shake.” You can even use it in bread making to give a silky texture to a loaf.
Usage and Storage of Coconut Cream:
Our coconut cream is sold in the frozen state. Store in the freezer. When you are ready to use, simply use it in the frozen state. If you only require a small amount, cut off a chunk with a knife and store the remaining cream in the freezer. The shelf life of this product is 6 months if stored properly in the freezer.
Anyway, back to the shredded coconut; it takes about 6 to 8 hours for it to completely dry in the sun. Once dried, the coconut is put through a stone mill to grind it into flour. You end up with a fluffy meal which is perfect for breads, pancakes and muffins and it is has the added bonus of being gluten-free.
Coconut Flour.
The coconut flour has a nutty flavour which adds texture to all kinds of foods. 1lb (454g) of this flour contains the meal of about 6 to 7 coconuts.
Usage and Storage of Coconut Flour:
Coconut flour is highly nutritious so should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. The coconut flour can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Otherwise, it can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 months. We usually deliver this product in the frozen state; in order to thaw this product, simply place in the fridge for 24 hours.
We are currently selling coconut cream, stone-ground coconut flour and rice flour within Belize. The coconut cream can only be sold within Punta Gorda. However, flours can be transported anywhere within Belize. Please check out The Apothecary for our Health Food prices.
It was really cold today…30C which is a drop from the usual 40C so we were both seeking some warming, comforting food. So, today I made steamed glutinous rice balls…I have deliberately not called them mochi balls because they are made Chinese-style ie. the way I watched my mum make them and she is Chinese. I note that mochi balls are made from steamed dough which is cut into rounds, filled and then ready to eat. My recipe uses uncooked glutinous rice flour dough, which is filled and then steamed. Instead of the typical red bean paste, I made sweetened black bean paste and because black beans are eaten here in Belize, I have called the recipe Belizean-style!
This morning we visited a friend who is growing grapes on his farm-land. The grape vines are only 12 to 18 months and are already producing abundant bunches. It is truly amazing to see grapes actually growing in the Toledo region of Belize because our average rainfall here is lots… annual rainfall is about 4000mm compared to about 1600mm for Northern Belize. When I think about grapes growing, I usually think of Mediterranean climates. Anyway, it just goes to show that you can make things happen if you have discipline and patience:
Row of Grape Vines.
Another picture with Munchkin:
Munchkin and Grapes.
The grapes will be ready to eat in about 2 months…we will be re-visiting soon!
By the way, Gnome is going crazy with making another lot of Rice Koji today…and for the next 4 days! He is unstoppable…
On this day the Miso Mission has been accomplished. The rice koji was ready and properly colonised and both of us were in the right frame of mind, with only a mild attack of filibustering on Munchkin’s part (she had very specific plans as to what she expected to do this morning), to tackle the mountain of beans and gallons of purple-black bean juice (from boiling said beans) required for the making of our Belizean-Style Black Bean Shinshu Miso.
The black beans were defrosted, boiled to tenderness (which thankfully doesn’t take too long with black beans), drained and then mashed. The use of words makes things appear so easy but while doing, it certainly seemed that there was a veritable mountain of beans. I left the temperature probe out of the rice koji and room temperature was 36C, so the mashing built up a bit of a sweat.
Starting to mash the beans.The Never-Ending Beans!
In the mean time, Munchkin, while muttering to herself that she needed to do other stuff, mixed the bean juice with sea salt, cooled it and added some commercial miso to the mix (for extra lots of beneficial microorganisms). Thank you, Adriana Guzman for giving us some for this purpose.
Black Bean Juice, Sea Salt and Old Miso to Make the Liquid Portion.
The rice koji had to be added to the beans and mixed well. Using a spoon did not work and I had to resort to using my hands…you can see the excitement that was gripping me at the time!
Adding the Rice Koji to the Mashed Beans.My hands convulse with excitement as I mix everything together!
After adding the liquid portion and mixing again, it was time to fill the prepared 5 gallon pig-tail bucket. This accomplished, a nice layer of salt was added on the top for protection against undesirable microorganisms.
Bucket-Full-of-Miso Ready for Sealing.Sealed Bucket…only have to wait 12-18 months now!!
What happened next was a total, super bonus for me, though it earned me this look from the Munchkin…
…there was still a whole lot of rice koji left and in the back of my mind I couldn’t help but think of the 28-day Miso Countdown before we run out…the solution…shiro miso. This type of miso is made up mostly of rice koji, only half the salt and a little bit of beans (compared to shinshu). The beauty of it and the reason why it is of critical importance right now, is that it only takes four to eight weeks to mature. Bonsa…we have the answer to our miso shortage!
So, I figured we could make a test gallon of this sweet miso but after measuring out the required koji, realised that we used up all the beans in making the monster bucket; we still had bean juice left-over but no beans. Resolution: fortunately I had already grated the day’s quota of coconuts and Munchkin had already squeezed out the cream from them (for selling in town to people that don’t want to buy cans or powdered coconut cream) and we were left with the meal. We decided to experiment and replace the bean portion of the miso with de-creamed coconut meal. Once the cream is removed, what is left is actually quite high in protein and while not a legume, it might make a good replacement for beans (it also makes things Belizean and exotic!). We still used the left over bean juice though.
Mixing the coconut, rice koji and salt.
The bean juice gave everything a slight purple tinge (pretty cool, actually!)…
Bean Juice Added to the Miso.
Here it is packed into a gallon jar:
Coconut Shiro Miso.
You would think that this was enough…hee…hee…hee…but I got another look shot my way…
…there was still another lot of koji left to make another batch…so we did…
Five gallons of shinshu miso and two gallons of shiro miso…not bad for a day’s work!!
It continues to be hot, dusty and windy…in Sardinia we would say that we are afflicted with scirocco, that wind that comes from the Sahara and North Africa…it feels very similar and makes one feel terribly miserable. Yes, you guessed it, headache is back today.
However, my life is not only bearable but actually exciting…the Spirit of Aspergillus has taken residence in the carefully prepared rice and the next twenty-four hours will lead to our desired goal…rice koji!
It is always nice to open the bundles and inhale the fruity, mushroomy bouquet of a successful inoculation.
The opened bundles.
The rice grains are covered with a white, cottony growth and you can feel the “live” heat (like having a cat on your lap) emanating from the rice. Everything needs to be transferred into bags as it will overheat and spoil if kept in a bundle.
Rice divided up into six 10 pound bags.
Time to flatten it all up, stick a temperature probe in and wait another twenty-four hours.
Nice neat stacks.
Keep an eye on the temperature…the bags make it easy to spread everything out if cooling is necessary (especially since I’m doing this in “summer” and you’re not supposed to ;-p).
Keeping an eye on the temperature.
This link takes you to the more detailed instructions I’ve written in making rice koji in the Bored-in-Belize Library if you ever want to do this yourself: Making Rice Koji.
Since we already know that we will be making some shinshu miso from this batch of rice koji, we’ve started the preparation of the beans: cleaning, washing and soaking overnight. We use black beans and not soy beans because a) they (soy) are harder to find and b) we are making Belize/Central American shinshu miso and we want to remain culturally appropriate.
Cor blimey it’s a scorcher today! I suddenly feel very relieved that I am on restricted duties. The sun is blazing down, the earth is developing big cracks and the ducks, who normally can’t be bothered to walk the two hundred metres to the pond actually went for a dip to cool off and clean up.
Hard core miso purists will probably look at this post and scoff at me for trying to make miso in “summer,” so to speak (dry season here is like summer), since you are supposed to make it in winter because …….. (fill in blank with the usual stuff that poncy, purist, fundamentalists say when they are trying to put you down and show how much smarter they are than you but I digress…). So, anyway, this is day two of Miso Madness (made in the summer, ha, ha, ha!):
Yesterday’s rice was soaked, drained and steamed.
Overnight-soaked rice being drained thoroughly.Loading bamboo steamers with rice.
Then the cooked rice had to be spread out and cooled before inoculating with the right Aspergillus mold.
Cooling cooked rice.Mixing mold spores into cooled rice.
The most pleasurable part of the process is making the final bundle to incubate the rice and get one step closer to rice koji.
The finished bundle.
Tune in tomorrow for the next stage in making rice koji…
Hello Everyone!! I am attempting to manage Gnome in the house since his sinus problem seems to get worse every time he does some heavy work outside. I have ordered him to make Rice Koji which takes 4 days in total; I am hoping to preoccupy him with miso making. After all, he metered out a measly 9oz (270g) of home-made miso which we promptly finished in 48 hours and now, I have made him bring the whole gallon jar to the kitchen so I can feel comforted by the presence of a larger quantity. Anyway, if you have read the previous blog, Gnome will have already explained that he has been bestowed the job of Miso Maker. I just need to be patient and ration out the gallon of precious miso.
We have been eating Miso Soup with Ora-Pro-Nobis.
Ora Pro Nobis Leaves.
About a week ago, I wrote about this plant Pereskia aculeata, also known as Barbados Gooseberry. I thought it very interesting because this is a popular vegetable in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais and outside of this place, it is not known or consumed. Well, the fact that I do not live in that state does not stop me from eating this vegetable!
I cooked it as a kombu (seaweed) substitute in miso soup and it worked a treat. It has a degree of succulence which makes it similar in texture to seaweed.
As a result of this wonderful discovery, we have decided to grow hedges and hedges of Ora-Pro-Nobis:
Pereskia aculeata. Flowers and Fruit.
What a lovely plant…you can eat the gooseberries too!
It is day three of the enforced ban on heavy work. Very bad headache yesterday (Tumulkin Day) but fortunately today there have been no problems…just a gnawing inner feeling that the brush really, really does need to be cleared since it is perfect dry season weather for it. Munchkin won’t budge and won’t even allow an elixir tasting to happen (The irony of life: when I want to sit around and do F-all, she can’t wait for me to work…when I’m dying to get off my butt and do something, I’m not allowed…).
So, I’ve permitted myself to be overwhelmed by Miso Madness: I just realized that the test gallon we made is only going to last 28 days!!! That means we have to make at least three pig-tail buckets a year in order to eat miso every day. The frenzy that this knowledge engendered inside my gnomish heart (the Munchkin’s too but she won’t admit it!) got us into town at 0800 on a non-town day to purchase 50 pounds of rice and 50 pounds of black beans…to find out that the Chinese wholesaler was still closed!! We ended up going to Quality Chicken instead and thankfully they were open…BZ$72.50 for 50 pounds of black beans and BZ$44.00 for 50 pounds of rice later, our happy humanoids were rushing home (BTW no diesel in town today)…
We’re going to start with some shinshu miso first and that means making rice koji. Time to wash some rice:
Washing all the dirt and starch from the rice (Can you see the gnome foot?).
Have to get all the starch off of the rice so it doesn’t get gummy and sticky at steaming time tomorrow when we enter day 2 of making rice koji…
The whole house smells of bean juice with trays of hatcho miso and buckets of beans soaking in water. At this point, all windows have to be opened or else one can get over-whelmed by the fart smell of bean. What better reason to take a look outside and tell you what interesting things are happening on the farm.
