Category: Playing with my food

Recently Consumed – The Numb Nutz Edition

Cooking, Playing with my food, yoso-silly

For the two years or so, one of my favorite snacks is this……

06282014 013 Going Nuts 03These "spicy" peanuts are quite addictive. They aren't super spicy, but also have that "ma" (numbing) thing going on with whole Sichuan Peppercorns used along with dried chilies. It's a nice salty, spicy, and numbing snack. Inevitably I started calling these "numb nutz". I even started giving these away to folks, often telling them, "this snack reminded me of you". A little inside joke.

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Anyway, I was wondering what would happen if I actually used these peanuts in a dish. I had a couple of cups of corn and used 1 cup of "numb nutz", doing a quick high heat stir fry. This was actually not bad……

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The Missus has me cooking with "la rou" a lot these days. Her favorite prep is simply spinach stir fried using the Big Kahuna with La Rou and Garlic.

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I topped it with some shaved gobo. It's Her current favorite; though I think the shaved Brussel sprouts with La Rou might be gaining ground. Heck, I've even done an edamame – orange bell pepper stir fry, that was more of a beer snack….it would probably go well with some numb nutz……

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Just playing in the kitchen I guess….

And who you callin' numb nutz?

Playing with my food – using Tapioca Maltodextrin: Sesame – Salt Powder

Cookbooks, Cooking, Playing with my food, Recipes

Sesame Powder 01Though I love food…both consuming and cooking; once in a while I kind of hit a rut and need a little change of pace. I don't remember where I first about Tapioca Maltodextrin and its effect as a fat stabilizer. I'm sure it wasn't in Modernist Cuisine at Home which I bought last year. And looking through it. Maltodextrin is only mentioned in two recipes and barely in passing. I do recall seeing something, perhaps on Youtube where an olive oil powder was made. Anyway, a couple of months ago I bought Modernist Cooking Made Easy, which had a short chapter on Maltodextrin. It just seemed like fun…..plus Maltodextrin is plant derived and a pretty common food starch. First I cleared things with the Missus who has a Masters in Chemistry, then I went ahead and ordered a pound.

Getting to the point; tapioca maltodextrin can turn fats and oils into pastes and powders. For my first try, I decided to use something that we have around the house and use in sparing quantities…sesame oil was an easy choice.

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One of things you'll notice right away is that tapioca maltodextrin is lighter than air….so no sneezing….no heavy breathing either. You don't need anything more than a whisk for this one. Using the recipe in Modernist Cooking Made Easy as my reference, it was a simple as this:

Sesame-Salt Powder (based on the recipe in Modernist Cooking Made Easy)
50 grams sesame oil
2 grams kosher salt
25 grams tapioca maltodextrin (this was about 3/4 cup)
extra tapioca maltodextrin as needed

– Pour sesame oil into a large mixing bowl (a large mixing bowl)Sesame Powder 03
– Add salt and mix
– Add 10 grams of tapioca maltordextrin…gently, unless you want clouds of the stuff all over the place
– whisk in until a paste forms. Slowly add the rest of the maltodextrin. It will begin to clump.
– Whisk until it starts to form "beads", you may need to add more maltodextrin to get the texture you want.

Other than a couple of maltodextrin clouds floating about, this was easy…..

It will stay in powder form as long as it doesn't come in contact with liquid…though it lasted a while even when on some poke I made.

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There's quite an interesting sensation…ahem, "mouthfeel" when it turns back to oil in your mouth.

It was also delicious on my Hiyayakko Tofu…….

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I really didn't detect much in terms of any additional flavor….by itself, there's a very faint sweetness, which I could not detect when using it with my poke or tofu.

Truffle Powdered Popcorn, caramel – salt powder, nutella, and probably duck fat or bacon powder seem around the corner. This will be great for dipping….

This was a fun experiment…..now it's on to Xanthan Gum and Lecithin!