Anyone still have and use a mortar and pestle?

I have a fantasy that someday I’ll get in the habit of making a dozen kinds of banchan on the weekend.

Once in a while I’ll pick up a bunch of takeout from the Korean supermarket, which is fun but the quality of most of the vegetables is a couple of steps down from what I get at the farmers market.

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Yeah, it’s totally doable. I usually prep my vegetables on Sunday and cook/prepare them on Monday, so that makes things smoother.

I love banchan. I think it’s one of the reasons that I gravitate to Korean food so much, since it’s a veggie lover’s paradise - despite being a meat-centric cuisine. Are you a fan of Maangchi? I think her recipes are really well tested; I haven’t had a single failure with her guidance.

I stumbled upon this web page, Learn How to Make Delicious Pesto Sauce at Home!, on a site I use for sausage making. I tried its seemingly outlandish suggestion, blanching the basil, and not only did it produce pesto that didn’t turn brown, but it took some of the bitterness out of the basil while leaving all the great flavor. It was reminiscent of what happen when you rinse sliced onions before serving them raw. Since my basil plant generally turns into a small tree I was glad to find the tip.


In answer to the original question I have two mortars and a molcajete. I use my large mortar for making aioli, the version without eggs, as well as crushing black pepper for spice rubs.

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First I’ve heard of her. Funny, ten years ago when I was trying to understand Korean food I bought every English-language Korean cookbook I could find, which was a total of six or seven. Now there are dozens. “Growing up in a Korean Kitchen” by Hisoo Shin Hepinstall and “Eating Korean” by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee are good.

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I’ve never thought of basil as bitter. To me the bitterness in some pesto comes from the garlic.

Blanching green vegetables keeps them from turning brown only if the water is low in calcium. Investigating why green beans he blanched at home stayed green while at his restaurant they didn’t was what first led Heston Blumenthal down the path of modernist cooking.

Here’s a link to Maangchi’s site, http://www.maangchi.com/. I enjoy it quite a bit.

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Thanks for the book recommendations, @robert! I need to check them out. I haven’t read her books, but I know Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee from her work for the LA Times.

I have two and use them often. One is ceramic and the other is wooden and I’ve had it for a t least 40 years. I mainly use them for grinding things like toasted cumin seed and other spices. Some things just cannot be successfully ground in a food processor or spice/coffee grinder.

I have a ceramic one, holds maybe not quite a cup, which I used this afternoon to grind up thyme, rosemary and sage to mix with olive oil to rub on a couple of dry-brined turkey thighs. Rather than oil up the mortar I just put everything in a metal bowl … I used to want a big one, two cups anyway, but those are either not to be found or insanely expensive. So my daughter-in-law up and sends me a molcajete … and, dammit, I’ve never used it either! It’s the thing about grinding changes of rice until it stays white, to make the bowl usable for food, that makes me go all poochy-faced and whiny, and I’m a bit ashamed of myself for avoiding yet another lesson about the kind of patience it takes to cook at the subsistence level, OR in a major fine-dining kitchen. My only excuse is that it’s a waste of rice, but I happen to have a bag of Mahatma from my late pa-in-law’s kitchen that was probably bought twenty years ago and wouldn’t cook to chewability no matter how long it was boiled … so it looks like I’ve talked myself into it.

Watch this space …

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Ah, WO, you’ve brought the very first smile to my face today :slight_smile: I have a molcajete also and have never used.

@ipsedixit and @MaladyNelson
Would either of you mind giving me some suribachi/surikogi buying advice? I’ve got a gift exchange at work and I think a set would be well received. Features of a decent set as well as a good place to buy would be particularly appreciated.
Thanks!

Anzen Hardware in LA’s Japantown.

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Good advice! But, I’m gonna be that guy. I’m on the westside and the gift exchange is on Thursday. When I buy one for myself I’ll take your advice. For this gift exchange, I’m thinking of trying to get something reasonable from Marukai or Mitsuwa because I don’t think I’ll have time for a trip to DTLA before the exchange. Looking for guidelines for a good one. Optimal size of each component, etc.

Ours is around six inches. We mostly use it for grinding sesame seeds, and that’s a good size for the amount most recipes call for. How long a pestle is best depends on the size of your hands, are but they’re often sold together.

Not sure where to get a specifically Japanese model, but HomeGoods often sells mortar and pestles. I got myself a large granite one from there for about $20 last year. I use it for pounding spices, dried chilies, garlic and ginger, etc.

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I’ve got a nice Thai granite one that I personally like.

Something about this magical peanut butter that ipsedixit mentioned plus using the right tool for a gomashio seems like a nice gift for a colleague.

I’ll see if Mitsuwa has a serviceable set. Thank you @robert for your advice regarding size. 6" seems fine.

I am looking forward to tooling around Little Tokyo and picking up a set for myself soon. Because I definitely need more stuff in my kitchen.

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From personal experience, I really like a larger suribachi, especially if I’m making a sauce. You should be able to find a relatively inexpensive suribachi and surikogi at Utsuwa No Yakata. You can find really nice ones at Hitachiya in Torrance.

HITACHIYA USA INC
2509 PACIFIC COAST HWY,
TORRANCE CA 90505
Tel:310.534.3136
info@hitachiya-usa.com
Business Hours:
Mon.- Fri. 11a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Open
Sat. 11am.- 6:00 p.m. Open
Sun. 11am.- 5:00 p.m. Open
Holidays are the same hours as on Sunday.

Oh nice! Thank you! What size are you liking for the bowl?

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For me personally, I would buy a suribachi that was at least 10 inches in diameter, but everyone has their own preferences.

I have a Suribachi and a big old school Mexican one. However, what I reach for 9 times out of 10 is the Le Creuset I own.

http://www.lecreuset.com/mortar-pestle

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