- You know what they say?
Double the turmeric, double the fun.
Welcome to the Spice Show y'all.
Today's guest of honor, turmeric.
We're going to answer some of your FAQ's
and we're going to be showing you how to cook with turmeric.
You've probably seen it in the store in the spice aisle
as this gorgeously yellow powder ground to a fine dust.
And it colors everything to your heart's content
but it never seems to taste or smell like much.
If that's the case,
you probably bought some turmeric that has been dried
and ground far too long ago and it has lost its potency,
both in terms of bright color, and in terms of flavor.
In its original form, turmeric is a rhizome,
and this is what they look like.
Turmeric, like its cousin, ginger, looks like a root
but it's actually a rhizome.
It's the part of a plant that sends out roots and stocks,
kind of like a growth hub.
Do you like turmeric?
What do you think bud?
Is no? Is yes?
That's a no.
Native to south and south east Asia,
turmeric is a spice that is used a world over
and traditional Indian medicine.
Health wise, it's believed that turmeric has a lot of
anti-inflammatories and antioxidants, like curcumin,
that's really good for you
but there's no scientific studies really backing that up.
What I do know is that turmeric is an exciting spice to have
in your cupboard and or in your fridge
if you can find it fresh.
You can use it in a lot of recipes
and we're going to show you how today.
That will truly depend on how fresh your stock is.
The fresher your ground turmeric,
the more pungent and more colorful it will be.
And of course, if you can get your hands on the fresh stuff,
that will be the most potent it will ever be.
To me, turmeric can taste a little bit earthy,
a.k.a like dirt.
It's got a bit of a warm mustardy taste,
a little bit bitter on the after finish,
and if you eat it straight, which I do not recommend,
you will certainly get that kick after.
It's a spice, but is it spicy?
I would say no.
On a scale of one to five, I would say this is like a 0.1.
If you nibble on the fresh stuff,
your teeth will be discolored
because turmeric has very potent coloring agents in it.
But if you're a brave soul
and you take a chunk out of the fresh stuff,
it kind of tastes like that root end of the carrot
where it makes the greens a little bit bitter,
a little bit fresh, a little bit crisp,
and a little bit juicy, actually.
It also has a slightly celery root taste to it too.
In terms of smell, it reminds me of a cross between
a black pepper and a clove.
Slightly androgynous,
a little bit sweet, a little bit spicy.
Now, before we start cooking with turmeric,
whether dried or fresh,
I think it is my absolute responsibility to
give you this disclaimer and warning.
Turmeric will stain absolutely everything and anything
it comes into contact with.
That includes your hands, your cooking tools, your pots,
your towels your clothes, your stove, everything.
While you can wash it off in batches,
it'll gradually fade with sunlight as well,
it's going to stain in your instruments.
So just be aware of that and don't use any of your
super pretty pots while cooking turmeric
unless you want it to be dyed a very nice shade of yellow.
Having said that, this property of turmeric makes it perfect
for any dishes that you want to imbue
with a yellow golden hue.
Which is why our first recipe is pickled daikon.
You see this kind of pickles a lot in Korean cuisine,
served alongside your main dishes and your sides.
And this, this is one of my absolute favorite pickles.
For your daikon pickles, you'll need seven ingredients.
Daikon being one of them, of course.
You'll also need water, rice vinegar, granulated sugar,
kosher salt, a little bit of turmeric,
either dried or fresh, as well as a clove of garlic.
You're going to slice your daikon about a quarter of an inch
or eighth of an inch thick, place them packed into a jar,
and then in a small pot over medium heat,
you're going to heat up your rice wine vinegar,
water, sugar, salt, and turmeric.
Depending on how strong you want your turmeric flavor to be,
you can go fresh or dried.
Fresh will give you a more bright pungent flavor
and dried will be a little bit tamer.
For me, the main purpose of turmeric in these pickles
is for the color so I'm going to go with dried.
Bring it up to a boil, let all of that sugar melt away,
and then grate your garlic over your daikon in the jar.
Pour over your hot solution
and just let it melt into that daikon.
Make sure all of your pieces of daikon are being covered
in that solution.
Lid it up a little bit, give it a shake over the sink
in case there's any leaks, and then let it sit
in your fridge at least two days before consuming.
It probably will keep for two weeks,
but I've never had them last that long.
The longer you them sit, the yellower they'll get
and the more flavorful they'll be.
Still delicious though.
I'm going to need some teeth whitening after this episode.
Next up, drinks.
Because turmeric is a little bit bitter,
and a little bit earthy, and a little bit pungent,
it pairs really well with sugar and any other spice or herbs
that taste a little bit on the borderline
of sweet and spicy.
That includes black pepper.
That includes cardamom.
That includes ginger.
All of the above.
One really simple way to enjoy turmeric
is to take a little bit of fresh grated turmeric,
a little bit of fresh grated ginger,
boil it in a couple of cups of water, add some honey to it,
squeeze a little bit of lemon in there,
and there you have it, turmeric tea.
If you don't mind a little fiber in your drink,
feel free to drink it straight with a little touch of lemon.
Perfect.
If you like a smooth tea,
go ahead and strain out those fibers.
This is a super simple drink to have in the morning,
in the afternoon, at night, no caffeine.
Just pure flavor and color.
Tastes like a slightly spicy warm lemonade.
This tea even comes with its own magic trick.
Nifty, huh?
If you're looking for something creamier
and a little bit more rich and substantial,
look no further than turmeric golden milk.
For the golden milk,
you're going to take some cardamom pods,
you're going to take some black pepper,
you're going to crush both of those open.
For a little bit of nuttiness,
you can go ahead and toast your spices in that dry pot first
to release their flavors a little bit.
Add a little bit of milk of your choice, and then go in
with your fresh ginger and your fresh turmeric.
If you don't have fresh turmeric on hand,
the substitution is about one inch of fresh turmeric
to one teaspoon ground turmeric.
Let everything come up to a little simmer
and let it boil away until that milk
takes on that golden hue from the turmeric.
Take it off the heat, strain it or don't, and then stir in
a little bit of honey or sweetener of your choice.
Ooh, yeah.
The creaminess of the milk is offset by that slightly spicy,
slightly earthy, pungent flavor profile.
And man, those spices,
they get delicious.
Naturally, you have your tea, you have your milk,
and then you have your cake.
Sfouf is a Lebanese semolina cake
that's usually flavored and colored with turmeric,
and then you add some tahini and almonds in there
for a nutty, nutty delicious bite.
It's usually flavored with anise seed
but I'm going to substitute some fennel seeds
because that's what I have on hand.
And I'm going to substitute the tahini
with a little bit of peanut butter.
I know, I know, you're thinking, turmeric and a cake.
Really?
Yes, really.
And it's going to be delicious and beautiful.
Oh, and did I mention this version is vegan.
To make sfouf, you take a little bit of semolina flour,
combine it with all purpose flour,
a little bit of granulated sugar, baking powder,
along with some salt, add in your turmeric,
give those dries a whisk until they're nicely combined.
Then, you're going to stream in a little bit of olive oil,
oat milk, and a little bit of peanut butter.
Sprinkle in your crushed fennel seeds, mix it well,
and then we're going to take a mini cupcake tin,
we're going to sprinkle the bottoms
with a little bit of sesame seeds.
We're going to plop in a little bit of batter into each cup.
And then we're going to top with more sesame seeds.
We're going to slide that whole thing
into a 350 degree oven.
And then we're going to let them bake
until the edges get a little nicely, solidly golden.
These semolina cakes can be very crumbly,
so be very careful and gentle
when you're pulling them out of your pan.
I recommend letting them cool for about five to 10 minutes,
flipping them onto a sheet tray and then kind of
smacking it with your hand until they kind of pop out.
Some of them might be stuck.
Don't worry.
If they crumble, it's still delicious.
Either way, you get a gorgeously golden cake
with nutty sesame seeds and a little bit of
peanut butter inside.
And then that texture of the semolina is just the most
enjoyable little crunch you'll ever get from a cake.
I also really enjoy using turmeric in my homemade granola.
Whatever granola recipe you like to use, go for it.
Just add in a little bit of turmeric for that nice color.
For my granola, I really like to go in with some oats,
a little bit of shredded sweetened coconut,
a little bit of seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds,
whatever healthy thing you want to throw in there.
And then I really like putting in a little bit of
androgynous spices, so turmeric, black pepper,
ground cardamom, all game.
Add a little bit of salt, a little bit of oil,
and a little bit of honey, mix it all together,
spread it on a sheet tray.
325, let it go for about 25 minutes, gently flipping halfway
through so that no edges are burning.
And then, when it's evenly golden all around the pan,
take it out, and,
here's the tip of getting nice little clusters of granola.
Don't fumble with it right away.
Let that tray cool completely before you kind of start
chipping away at it and breaking it off in chunks.
Letting that honey solidify completely
after it caramelizes in the oven is the way to get those
nice big clumps of crunchiness.
For some double turmeric action, go ahead and drizzle
your golden milk right over that granola.
All right.
Are we ready to hit the savories yet?
'Cause I am.
Fun fact, did you know that turmeric is present
in a lot of spice mixes, primarily that of curry powder.
Turmeric is what gives curry powder
its signature yellow hue.
It's also used very commonly
in a lot of different Indian dishes.
So if you go to your Indian store,
you'll see on the shelves so many different pre-packaged
meal kits that have turmeric in them as a key agent
of flavor and color.
One of my favorite ways to use curry powder
is fish ball curry.
If you've never had fish ball before,
it is a true delight.
I highly recommend that you seek it out
at your Asian markets.
You can usually find it in the refrigerated or frozen aisle,
and you can get so many different shapes.
Look at that, so fun.
Try it, try it, try it.
For your fish ball curry, in a large pot, drop in some oil,
go in with your onions and your garlic,
and just let them toast until they're a little bit golden.
Add in your kosher salt, your curry powder, and then go in
with either ground turmeric or fresh turmeric sliced.
Also add in a little bit of freshly cracked black pepper
and two birds eye chili if you can handle the heat.
Toss in some fragrant lime leaves
and let those get stirred around in the pot
so that all their flavors release into that oil.
As soon as that pot smells divine,
hit it with some rich coconut milk,
along with some chicken broth or water.
Add a touch of soy sauce, a little splash of fish sauce,
going with a tablespoon of sugar to offset all the spices.
Then plop in some halved baby potatoes and your fish balls.
Give it a stir and just let that cook
until that sauce looks nice and slightly thickened.
When your curry is done, your potatoes should be
knife tender, and super creamy on the inside.
This curry goes great served over wheat noodles,
or if you have leftover rice,
let's make some turmeric fried rice, shall we?
For the fried rice, I'm going to place a skillet
over medium heat, drizzle in some oil,
go in with my onions and garlic, you know the drill,
wait until they're nice and golden,
stir them around so that they don't burn.
And then we're going to hit it with a little bit
of minced ginger, a little bit of dried ground turmeric,
a little bit of smoked paprika for, you know, flavor punch.
Go in with a little bit of freshly ground black pepper,
and then we're going to throw in our veggies because guys,
you gotta eat your veggies.
Mom's right.
So I'm putting in some red bell peppers,
along with some broccoli chopped,
and then we're going to season this whole thing
with a little bit of soy sauce, a little bit of fish sauce.
And then we're going to plop in our rice.
I used leftover rice, about two cups.
One even layer, give us some room to be stirred,
to be cooked, to be nice and crispy.
And then once that rice is poppin, move it off
to one side of the skillet, crack in two eggs,
we're going to quickly scramble it,
we're going to fold it into the rest of the rice,
and voila.
You have some turmeric fried rice with eggs.
I think as far as fried rice goes,
they don't come prettier than this.
Red, green, rich, bright yellow.
And of course, if you want more flavor,
we're going to dump some fish ball curry on top of this.
You know what they say?
Double the turmeric, double the fun.
The potatoes are nice, tender, super creamy,
super covered in this rich curry sauce.
Lots of coconut milk happening here
and lots of spices happening here.
The fish balls are tender and still bouncy,
filled with delicious umami flavor.
And then you find a little sliver of sliced turmeric,
and man, is it delicious after being stewed.
It's still got that nice turmeric punch,
it's a little bit crunchy.
- June, these look beautiful.
- Do you want some food?
- Thank you.
I love eating hot fried rice and hot curry
on an 85 degree day here in New York.
Don't you, June?
- Just depends on how good it is, man.
- We'll see.
It's good.
Man, this is awesome.
- Mine.
- Nope. Nope.
- Mine.
Y'all, I hope you enjoyed going on this
turmeric journey with me.
I hope you learned something about this wonderfully
yellow spice and I hope that you stock this spice up
in your pantry and use it more.
I think it's a beautiful spice,
visually beautiful, tastefully beautiful.
Yes, it can be a little bit bitter
if you use too much of it, but you know,
aren't we all at the end of the day, a little bit bitter.
If you have any favorite recipes involving turmeric
or you got tricks and tips about this spice,
drop a comment down below and let me know.
I want to learn from you too.
Until next time, guys, take care,
stay hydrated, and keep on eating good things.