Popped amaranth
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Popped amaranth - 1/14/2007 11:55:20 AM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
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I was experimenting with amaranth today, and thought I might share my findings since I didn't see a thread on preparing it.
Amaranth is not really a cereal or a grain (it's just a seed), but is usually treated as one. It's a supergrain like quinoa, and although it's amino acid profile is not quite as good as quinoa, it's pretty close, and much better than other grains. It's got lots of fiber and complex carbs, quite a bit of protein and not very much fat. Also, IMO, it tastes much better than quinoa. It's available at a lot of health-food stores in the bulk section.
You can prepare amaranth like oatmeal or rice, but my favorite way to eat it is popped, like popcorn. I've experimented with some different ways of popping it today.
1) Hot skillet:
This requires a little preparation because you have to move quickly to get the best yield. Get a large regular skillet (NOT non-stick) with a lid, a easy-to-spoon-from container with the unpopped amaranth, a large bowl to receive the popped amaranth and a spoon. Arrange this all within reach of the stove.
Get the skillet really hot. Start on "hi" and switch to "medium hi" once you get going. If it's not hot enough, you'll get lots of burned seeds. Now, very quickly spread 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of amaranth seeds in the skillet and put the lid on. Don't put in too much - there should be no seeds not in direct contact with the surface. Immediately start shaking the skillet back and forth so that the seeds are in constant motion sliding around on the surface. If it's hot enough, they'll start popping immediately. When the popping sounds slows down somewhat, after about 15 seconds (but no more than about 30 seconds), quickly dump the skillet into the bowl. There will be some burnt seeds stuck to the skillet - don't bother trying to scrape them off at this point, just dump all you can and move on. Also don't worry if unpopped or burned seeds get in the bowl - they taste fine and add texture. Set the skillet back on the burner for a few seconds to get back up to heat, then repeat the process until you've popped as much as you want. Every 3-4 cycles, you may want to stop to clean out the burned kernels so the others can slide around more easily.
This takes a fair amount practice, but popping increases the volume a great deal, so if you get good at it, you'll have a big bowl of popped amaranth in no time. After a few trial runs, I was eventually able to get more than 75% of the seeds to pop, with just a few burned ones. Be prepared to have a bit of a burned smell in your kitchen - fortunately, it doesn't smell as bad as burnt popcorn - it's more of a somewhat pleasant toasty smell.
2) In the microwave:
Only about a third of the seeds pop with this method, but there is less burning, and it's easiest.
Spread the amaranth in a wide, shallow bowl and cover it with a lid or plate that fits loosely so that steam can escape but the popped seeds can't. Then microwave it just as you would popcorn. You can also do a fairly decent volume of seeds at once, so it's less labor intensive. The unpopped seeds still taste good, so if you don't mind them, and want to avoid the fuss, this may be the way to go.
3) Air popper:
I've heard this is the best, but I don't have one yet. I'm going to pick one up and try this soon. One concern is that amaranth is very tiny, and it will get stuck in crevices and escape from air vents and such.
I also tried popping them in oil as you would with popcorn, but it didn't work at all.
What to do with popped amaranth:
IMO, the result tastes much better than popcorn, and it doesn't get stuck in your teeth. The puffs or so tiny, you can't really snack on it like popcorn, but you can eat it with a spoon, or with milk on it as a tasty breakfast cereal (sweetened to taste). It would also make a nice, healthy ingredient in granola or homemade meal replacement bars.
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RE: Popped amaranth - 1/21/2007 3:22:48 PM
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danmac75
Posts: 299
Joined: 11/26/2006
From: Beantown
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Pretty cool man. I'm going to look into quinoa as well, since I've heard of it but know nothing about it. I don't want to just be eating oats and brown rice all the time. Furthermore, I love popcorn so maybe this can be a nice substitute. If you don't mind me asking, do you think of microwave pop corn as a bad carb? It is a whole grain right? If I get a healthy type of it is it cool to eat it?
(in reply to jheft)
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RE: Popped amaranth - 1/21/2007 3:56:20 PM
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jheft
Posts: 3021
Joined: 1/3/2007
Status: online
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Popcorn has tons of fiber, but other than that, I don't know much about it. Usually, when people say popcorn is bad for you, it's because people load it up with lots of oil and butter and salt. I think plainish popcorn can't be too bad, but I'm not a nutritionist.
I just tried using an air popper - unfortunately the seeds are so light they immediately get blown out of it before they pop. I tried holding them in with a fine mesh collander, which got most of them to pop, but it was generally a mess getting them out, and the results don't seem quite as good as the pan method, nor does it seem much easier. If I had a little mesh cage that I could hang inside the popper, that might work well.
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(in reply to danmac75)
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