Merchant’s buckwheat

110 min, requires preparation the day before

Buckwheat is very common in Russia. Funny thing is that Artem never liked buckwheat until he left Russia, and now it’s one of our most favorite recipes.

Ingredients

Yields 6 portions

400 g of pork neck
200 g of roasted buckwheat
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 carrots
1 chile
olive oil
500 ml of water
boiling
bay leaves
black peppercorns
freshly ground black pepper
salt

You will need

dutch over or medium-sized pot

Directions

Rinse the meat in cold water, dry using paper towels, season with salt, and refrigerate in a sealed container (or wrapped in a film) overnight.
Rinse the buckwheat, and put it into a bowl, add salt, add water to cover the buckwheat to soften it before cooking.
Prepare the vegetables. Onion: cut into small dice. Carrot: cut into 1/2 cm half-moons. Garlic: cut into thin slices. Chili: halve, remove the seeds, and thinly slice.
Cut the meat into 2 cm cubes.
Sauté onion, garlic, and chili on a large frying pan with olive oil and a bit of salt, on medium heat, for 2–3 minutes, until transparent.
Add carrots and cook for 3 more minutes.
Add the meat, and cook until the meat is white on all sides.
Add 100 ml boiling water, add 3 bay leaves and a few peppercorns, wait until it boils, reduce the heat, and cook covered for about 30 minutes, until the meat is soft.
Add the buckwheat (without water).
Add more boiling water, so it’s about 1 cm over the buckwheat. Cook for 10–15 minutes more.
Season with ground black pepper and more salt if needed.

Notes & tips

If you don’t have time to season the meat overnight you could refrigerate it for a few hours. The recipe still works well without seasoning the meat in advance, however, the meat will be harder.

The easiest way to peel garlic is to smash it: put a clove of garlic on a cutting board, put your chef’s knife on top of it so the blade side lays on the clove, and hit the side of the knife with your hand. Now you could peel the clove.

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