Coco Cereal
A recipe for a grain cereal from the classic Japanese Macrobiotic kitchen. The Coco cereal has a gentle flavor and a roasted scent that spreads in the house during cooking and creates a nurturing and comforting atmosphere.
Ingredients
Preparation of the cereal mixture:
- 2 cup short grain brown rice Vata 0 Pitta - Kapha 0
- 1 cup sweet brown rice. If it can't be found replace with risotto rice (sushi rice) or with short grain brown rice (Vata - Pitta - Kapha +)
- 3/4 cup whole oat groats Vata - Pitta + Kapha +
- 1/4 cup brown sesame Vata - - Pitta + Kapha +
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C/356 °F on grill mode.
- Roast each type of grain in a separate baking dish.
- It’s recommended to shake the baking dish once in a while so that all the kernels will roast equally from all sides.
- Pay close attention to the roasting process to avoid burning of the grains.
- Please notice, the sesame burns quickly and easily!
- After separately roasting the rice, oats and sesame, let the grains cool.
- Mix the roasted grains together, place in a sealed glass container and store in a dark cupboard or in the fridge.
Preparing the cereal (serves 1):
- In a spice grinder, grind 3 Tbs. of the roasted grain mixture.
- The level of grinding will determine the cooking time:
- A finely ground powder will take less cooking time than a roughly ground mixture.
- In a small saucepan pour a large cup of water (200 ml), turn on the flame and add the cereal powder while constantly stirring.
- Add a pinch of salt.
- Bring to boil and continue to cook on low flame.
- Stir occasionally and make sure you get to the bottom of the saucepan to prevent sticking and scorching of the cereal.
- The rougher the grind of the cereal, the less it tends to stick to the bottom.
- If the cereal is too thick, add water to the desired consistency.
- Minimum cooking time is 20 minutes.
- For those who don’t have the time to cook in the morning, it is possible to prepare the cereal in the evening and heat it with some boiling water, in the morning.
Notes
Notes:
It is recommended to make a large amount of the roasted mixture in advance, and store in a sealed glass container in refrigeration, up to several months. To obtain fresh cereal every day, grind the desired amount.
For those who eat Coco cereal on a daily basis, it is certainly possible to grind a larger amount that will be sufficient for several cereal servings.
For a sweet version, you can cook the grains with raisons, dates, dried figs, dried apricots and so forth. When the cereal is served it can be topped with almonds, nuts, pumpkin seeds etc., according to the therapists recommendation. It is advised to sweeten the cereal by adding dried fruit to the cooking but it is also possible to sweeten after cooking with maple syrup, date syrup or honey.
For a salty version, add a little salt or soy sauce. It’s possible to add to the cooking grated vegetable like carrot, sweet potato or pumpkin or add to the dish chopped greens such as parsley or coriander.
If an Oily dish is needed, add diluted tahini.
Optional additions:
For Kapha: replace with 2 cups brown basmati rice, 1 cup barley groats, 3/4 cup millet/buckwheat. Omit the sesame. Sweeten with honey.
For Vata: increase the sesame quantity up to 1/2 cup. Replace brown sesame with black sesame. Add to the cooking sesame oil or ghee.