Buckwheat is kinda amazing.
To avoid confusion, let me just clarify right now that buckwheat is not actually related to wheat. Despite it’s common name and grain-like use, it is in fact a gluten-free pseudoseed (meaning it’s neither grain, nor grass, nor cereal). Other pseudoseeds include quinoa, amaranth, and chia.
Anyway, since this gluten-free crop is used very similarly to wheat, it functions nicely as an alternative for those with gluten intolerances or coeliac disease.
It can be eaten raw (soaked or sprouted) as well as cooked (on it’s own or as buckwheat bread or pasta). It truly has a million and forty-five uses and is popular all over the world.
Here are some uses you may be familiar with, plus some you may not:
- buckwheat (soba) noodles – popular in Asian cultures
- farina – porridge made from groats
- buckwheat pancakes – called blinis in Russia, galettes in France, ployes in Acadia, and boûketes in Belgium
- savory crêpes – common in Brittany
- hrechanyky – the Ukrainian word for yeast rolls made from buckwheat
- beer – it produces a malt similar to barley (for a gluten-free brew)
- honey – dark, strong flavor
- buckwheat starch – commonly used to make jelly in Korea
- kasha – the term Russian and Polish immigrants used for buckwheat when making knishes and blintzes (kasha is often used synonymously with groats now in the US)
And that’s just a small sampling!
Buckwheat is similar to a sunflower seed in the way it has an inner seed surrounded by an outer hull. Above are the groats, which are the inner seed. They are hard and greenish tan and you can find them in many bulk bin aisles. Bob’s Red Mill also sells them packaged.
The inside (endosperm) is white and after soaking or cooking, it gets soft and starchy. It is the part most commonly made into flour and used in noodles, pasta, etc.
Having minimal experience with raw groats, I decided to try my hand at soaking them. I washed them thoroughly and then left them in water overnight.
The next day I drained and rinsed them (again) and then left them to hang out in the fridge, trying to decide what to do with them.
After a few days of work, I finally had a free morning to experiment. And so my vegan buckwheat pudding breakfast was born.
The dish is almost entirely raw since the groats were not cooked (in fact the only non-raw ingredient is the almond milk).
Here are the groats after 3 days of soaking. For the record, they don’t require such a long amount of time to soak at all, but I didn’t have the time or energy creativity to give a new recipe a whirl on a work morning.
Like I said before, I only stored them in the liquid for the first day. After that I left them drained, but I made sure to rinse them well each day because they get that gummy slippery slime that you don’t want. Prior to using them for this recipe, I washed them in warm water several times. Then I assembled the rest of the ingredients.
- 1/2 cup raw, soaked buckwheat groats
- 3/4 cup almond milk
- 1/4 cup raw walnuts
- 3 medjool dates
- 2 tbsp shredded coconut
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- stevia (to taste)
If you soak the nuts and dates beforehand they will be softer which can be helpful for blending. However, it’s not necessary (I didn’t and it was no problem for my bullet).
To blend it, I added everything listed above, except half the groats. Since they had been soaking for quite a while, I figured they would be soft, but I wasn’t exactly sure how soft (ie blendable) they would be. It turns out I could have added the whole amount because in under a minute it was all pureed together.
In any event, I added the remaining portion of the groats and again blended away. And in no time at all I had this…
Beautiful!
The texture was like porridge, but with a sweet yet hearty flavor. It wasn’t totally silky smooth, but it wasn’t at all like the whole rolled oats that I’m used to.
It was semi-confusing for my taste buds because it was only a bit above room temperature. So it’s not really pudding (pudding should be cold cold right?). But it’s also not farina (because that’s hot and cooked like a breakfast porridge).
The only reason the groats weren’t cold was because I rinsed them in warm water. So I don’t know what to call the dish. How about yummy? Because that’s what it was. And the combo of nuts, pseudoseeds, and dried fruit provided the perfect mix of macronutrients (fats, protein, carbs) to keep me satisfied.
Mmmmm. This may become a regular because it is so tasty. Have you ever tried buckwheat?
Oh, we love us some buckwheat in our house! We do a similar soaking process, the blend (with some other yummy ingredients like banana, hemp seeds, etc.) and make pancakes 🙂 We tend to use a lot of buckwheat flour in lieu of other kinds, too. Yum! Thanks for the new idea for the groats!
wow! ive never ever even thought of trying buckwheat! glad i know how to use it though- i could give it a shot!
Hii Elise,
Long time reader, first time poster! I just spent the past few weeks of my life catching up on every single one of your entries haha! (Boy you have a lot) I gotta say … you make clean eating LOOK SO GOOD. I always crave fruits and veggies (and hummus) after reading your blog! Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
Also I just read this in the paper and instantly thought of you .. did you know that Starbucks is coming out with a new cup size bigger than the Venti?
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/01/17/graphic-how-big-exactly-is-starbucks-new-trenta-size/
I don’t think I’ve ever had buckwheat but this looks AWESOME!
i had no idea it wasnt related to wheat! interesting!
I’ve only tried it in flour form.
But you’ve enticed me to get a better blender and make it happen.
This looks wonderful, very creative. I recently bought buckwheat from the Whole Foods bulk section and haven’t done anything with it yet. Thanks for the inspiration!
Yay! I’ve had buckwheat sitting in my cabinet for months, not knowing what to do with it. I wanted to do something raw with it, and this is perfect! Thanks!!
I have not tried buckwheat but seeing this pudding really makes me want to!
i feel like you should make large batches of this and distribute it to the hospital patients or just send a giant batch to me. we would both love you even more then we already do haha
oh yes we love buckwheat! We love to make buckwheat porridge, great fuel for workouts.
so interesting!!! thank you for the little buckwheat lesson!
I bought some buckwheat groats on one of my last trips to WF’s. I got it to make some granola, but I will definitely be trying your breakfast pudding first!
Oh and love the buckwheat facts!
ok, so i’ve seen you talk about carob chips so much that i bought a little bit from the bulk bin today. they aren’t bad, just different (i might like sweetened ones better). the nutritional info said they had whey powder in them, so they aren’t vegan, so what’s better about carob than chocolate? just curious.
I like the flavor better…so that’s why I buy em. They do make vegan ones fyi.
Never tried it! Thx for the lesson though 🙂
Hello, great ideas! You might try to modify the recipe so as not to have to discard the soaking water – if you get rid of it, apparently you’re giving up on the rutin, a compound that helps keep veins healthy. So perhaps try soaking in just enough water to make the buckwheat plump. All the best to you!
good to know! thanks for passing on the info 🙂
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Sorry if someone has said this already, but unless you’re really opposed, there’s no reason why you couldn’t heat this gently before eating.