Buckwheat merchant-style is a porridge cooked with the addition of products such as meat or minced meat, onion, carrots, garlic, and tomato paste. Spices like pepper, salt, and bay leaf are added to taste and as desired. The buckwheat used is whole-grain, but crushed buckwheat (sechka or prodel) will do if needed. You can cook it on the stove, in the oven, or in a slow cooker.
The five most commonly used ingredients in buckwheat merchant-style recipes:
| Product | Calories per 100g | Protein g per 100g | Fats g per 100g | Carbohydrates g per 100g |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buckwheat | 313 | 12.6 | 3.3 | 62.1 |
| Carrots | 33 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 6.9 |
| Tomato paste | 28 | 5.6 | 1.5 | 16.7 |
| Pork | 259 | 16 | 21.6 | 0 |
| Onion | 41 | 1.4 | 0 | 10.4 |
The cooking principle is similar to making ordinary pilaf (essentially, this is buckwheat pilaf). First the vegetables are fried in oil. Tomato paste (optional) and spices, except garlic, are added to them. Then washed and dried buckwheat is poured in. Everything is covered with water so the grain is fully submerged. And it is stewed until done under a lid over low heat. As soon as the liquid is fully absorbed, the dish is ready. A few minutes before the end, chopped garlic is added to it.
The same can be done in clay pots. It turns out especially tasty if you portion everything out and take pots according to the number of eaters. In this case we get a dietary dish — you won't even have to fry the vegetables.
Buckwheat merchant-style recipes may not include meat — keep this in mind, there are lean versions of this dish. In that case it is most often replaced by mushrooms. It is also cooked with beef, pork, chicken, or stewed meat.
The five lowest-calorie buckwheat merchant-style recipes:
| Name of the dish | Cooking time | Calories per 100g | User Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buckwheat merchant-style with carrots, onions, and chicken | 40 min | 130 | +24 |
| Buckwheat merchant-style in a slow cooker | 1 hour 40 min | 138 | +259 |
| Buckwheat merchant-style with chicken | 40 min | 141 | +203 |
| Buckwheat merchant-style in the oven | 1 h 20 min | 145 | +12 |
| Merchant-style buckwheat with pork in a frying pan | 40 min | 156 | +225 |
Especially important: this porridge is good only hot; cold it is not so tasty.
If the buckwheat is fried in butter, the dish takes on an even more pleasant flavor.
By the way, if Pokhlyobkin is to be believed, buckwheat porridge (to which the merchant-style version can safely be assigned) holds an honorable second place in the list of the most significant dishes of Russian cuisine. First place goes, of course, to shchi. During Lent, our grandfathers and grandmothers lived mostly on this fare, inventing more and more new ways of cooking it.