The Cochayuyo in the kitchen
The cochayuyo has a fleshy texture reminiscent of mushrooms. It has a mild taste but intense. We can consume it in a simple way, with any cereal, legume, potato… taking into account adding it in the last 15-20 minutes of cooking if we want to have it whole (see various forms of preparation in the previous chapter). Also baked, fried in oil… it is also very versatile, whether you find the point of dressing. Apart from enriching the salads, we can combine with the cooked dishes that will bring freshness and a nice texture contrast.
It can be aligned in many ways, but it combines particularly well with acidic flavors such as lemon. Can be consumed even as an aperitif.
Recipes can actually be infinite, because we know that every dish can be incorporated in one way or another.
In the kitchen, we must have a lot of alchemy, a good dose of imagination, improvisation and eager to test and experiment. We invite you to practice this seaweed being creative in the kitchen and find out how much you like the cochayuyo.
Different ways of Cochayuyo preparation
To use raw:
- Soak in water and lemon, and a little water or apple cider vinegar overnight or 6 to 12 hours, depending on water hardness. If this is too hard to soak, use bottled water of low mineralization. After drained, garnish with lemon juice, which helps to soften over a few hours before eating. Allow you to mix with the salad to accompany a cereal, potatoes or any dish you want to give a touch cooler.
- It combines well with lemon, both for the palate and at the level of utilization of nutrients.
To use cooked:
- Just wash and add to stew, or quit a while to soak while preparing other ingredients.
- Another option to add a stew is boiling before. The need for cooking cochayuyo prior cooking time will depend on the rest of ingredients and also the "texture" we like. We must bear in mind that cooking is about 15 to 20 minutes.
Ground: To use raw or cooked
- Grind the dry seaweed with coffee grinder to add to stews that require cochayuyo powder for seasoning or raw. This formula will be used in diets for weight loss or when required higher iodine nutrition.
- Another option is to wash, drain (you can remove excess water with a cloth kitchen), and toast for 10 minutes oven over medium heat, or pan without oil. Ensure that it would not burn, as has a bad taste. After grinding with the grinder or with mortar and leave it as very fine powder. This preparation is used mainly in sweet recipes.
- The ground is also good for making croquettes or some kind of filler that want it to be homogeneous.
For sweet recipes:
It is better to wash cochayuyo and always have time to soak, or make a pass after scalding in cold water. Drain and cut often with kitchen scissors or mincer. To incorporate ground, see the previous paragraph.
Very important information to take into account
Because cochayuyo is a natural product, an alga that follows the rhythms of nature, and which is influenced by variations in weather, time of collection, etc. is not a homogeneous behavior of food such as industrialized. I.e., the cochayuyo collected in November (spring in Chile), does not have the same characteristics as that harvested in April (autumn) has matured and most of its fibers are more consistent. Sometimes the springs, especially in the south are short or many temporary impossible that most of the collection is made at the time, and must be made when the weather is more favorable.
These variations do not substantially modify their nutritional qualities (although there are slight variations in concentration of nutrients, are not very meaningful), or taste, but its time of preparation or cooking.