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I have been wanting a mortar and pestle for a long time...For some
reason, I have denied myself what is easily one of the most affordable
kitchen gadgets in the marketplace. I have looked at various styles,
most of them marble or stone. This weekend, my mom and partner
purchased a mortar and pestle for me favored by the Japanese community
in a small town on the coast of Oregon. Apparently, it is created in a
way that they consider to be "proper". I had no idea what that mean,
but it was a thing of beauty...a wooden pestle, with an open mortar, in
bowl shape, made of ceramic with deep grooves in the bottom and on the
sides.
I was intrigued and decided to do a little bit of research. I went to an amazing site called Gourmet Sleuth. There I was introduced to the Suribachi (the bowl) and Surikogi (the pestle).
The Suribachi is an earthenware bowl, glazed on the topside with
deep grooves on the inside. These ridges are called kushi-no-me and
make grinding much easier. The Surikogi is made of wood instead of a
harder substance, like stone, to prevent wear on the ridges.
Historically, the suribachi and the surikogi were used medicinally.
Later they were used in cooking for grinding sesame seeds, miso and
soybeans. Recently, I used it to create a dry rub for chicken.
The rub consists of coarse salt, pepper, fennel seeds, dried thyme
and dried basil. The resulting melange was amazing. The fragrance
created by the herbs releasing their essential oils was heavenly and
perfumed the whole house.
I highly recommend trying the suribachi and surikogi...great history and great food...a great combination!
Read more food fun at www.Portlandfoodie.com.
