Buckwheat me, baby

A love letter to my favorite pseudocereal

Sesame buckwheat blondies from Kismet

I have no intention of stepping on the minefield that is “the rise of gluten intolerance” discourse, but nixing gluten is an omnipresent consideration in the mind of any baker, professional or hobbyist. I hate serving food that not everyone can enjoy — if made aware of allergies and intolerances I will do everything in my power to make a meal that everyone can eat all parts of. I don’t think it’s farfetched to say that when bringing baked goods to an unknown audience, gluten-free is the new baseline. This way of thinking has led to me exploring a lot of other grains and flours, and influenced the way I bake in general. Almond flour had a great run with me, but lately I’ve latched on to buckwheat, a “grain”¹ that is having somewhat of a moment. I’m not alone in this opinion, and it’s undeniable that I’ve spotted buckwheat on a wider variety of bakery menus as of late.

The first time I can remember consciously eating buckwheat is probably naengmyeon in high school² — there’s a non-zero chance I’m skipping over an early buckwheat groats exposure, but that was likely bulgur. In any case, buckwheat whole or in noodle form certainly predated the long list of cookies, breads, and cakes that are now conjured at the mention of the false grain.

Buckwheat banana bread from Mother Grains

Although it seems somewhat out of character, I’m actually not a huge soba fan, which has got to be one of the more famous uses for buckwheat. Perhaps this is a situation that can be remedied during my next trip to Japan which is happening in 2025 (speaking it into existence), but it seems like a notable omission from this sermon. Also, French-style buckwheat crêpes, but I don’t really mess with crêpes in general — I think it’s residual trauma from eating so many of them when I lived in Montreal and Ottawa. Contrary to my continual oversharing of specific things I’m not especially fond of, I promise you I am not a picky eater. I would eat any of these things with enthusiasm if they were presented to me in earnest.

Buckwheat has come up so often in my cooking and baking this year, at first with intention and then by coincidence, that it merits a round up of all the ways it’s entered my diet. May I modestly present, in loose chronological order…

---

…what’s cooking

I first made this walnut-buckwheat toffee cake because I was in need of a nice gluten free treat. As previously mentioned, I try to avoid making food that not everyone can enjoy. We routinely distribute leftovers from my adventures in baking to our neighbors, and a few gluten free folks have been left out one too many times for my liking. These cakes were first made so I’d just happen to have something leftover to offer them (I am very smooth / totally chill & normal). They ended up being so good that I’ve remade them more than a few times. I will say it’s devilishly sweet with the toffee, which is a lot given buckwheat’s tendency to add a savory, grounded flavor to bakes — “adultify”, if you will.

---

During this past summer, I ate what might be considered a disgusting amount of the naengmyeon meal kits you can find at H Mart — a steal at ~$3.50 meal, if you ask me. I’ve messed around with cook times and accompaniments, but it’s all been delicious. My unsolicited tip is that the noodles need to be aggressively rinsed after cooking, certainly more than I anticipated at first.

---

Months later, a friend sent me this Mother Grains recipe for a buckwheat banana bread. I am, regrettably, too young for the “old school macrobiotic shops” flavor reference in the original recipe text, but found the results to be delicious nonetheless. Nutty, sophisticated, and familiar, this was a perfect take on a style of bread I can occasionally find to be a little bit too much for the very start of my day.

It outshone a miso banana bread that I made the week prior — but to be fair, I over baked it a touch.

---

As always, culinary icon and personal hero David Leibovitz has something to contribute to my studies in whatever thing I currently find myself obsessed with. In this instance, a buckwheat chocolate chip cookie recipe that yields a delicious “breakfast cookie”, which is what I call cookies I’ve convinced myself are fine to eat first thing in the morning. I think the common trait they have is containing a dimension deeper than sweet. They were actually best after being baked from extra frozen dough balls, for whatever reason.

---

I’ve already written about these, but the sesame buckwheat blondies from Kismet are delicious. I’ve made them 3 or 4 times by now, best served with a scoop of relatively neutral ice cream. In concert with the sesame, there’s a really unique mixture of intense richness (they’re basically 1/2 butter and sugar) and savory nuttiness, that differs from a typical ‘sweet and salty’ pairing.

---

A buckwheat madeleine seemed like an obvious thing to try, especially as I’m already all set up with a method and equipment from previous adventures. I started with the exact same proportions, substituting buckwheat for masa, and AP flour for mochiko. Dear reader… I have no notes, these were exceptionally good; I will be making them for all my winter guests³ this year. They didn’t quite have the shine or definition I’m endlessly chasing, but they were great on the flavor front. I'm reposting the adjusted recipe for posterity here because I think it’s a good one to have in your back pocket — this is maybe the best flavor:effort ratio of anything I make regularly, it really comes together so simply. To stay gluten free, I’d keep the mochiko for flour sub, something I will try in the near future, I’m sure.

---

Buckwheat Madeleines

12 madeleines / 30 mins active time (45 mins + overnight rest total time)

For the madeleines
75g of butter, plus some for greasing the pan
2 tsp water
75g grams of granulated sugar
25g of buckwheat flour
50g of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 large eggs, beaten

Directions

1. Brown 75g butter over medium high heat, let cool slightly and stir in 2 tsp of water

2. Whisk granulated sugar, buckwheat flour, AP flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl

3. Whisk eggs into dry ingredients until just combined, then add cooled brown butter and mix until a thick batter forms, about 1 minute

4. Cover and chill in the fridge overnight, for up to 2 days

5. When it’s time to bake, preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a madeleine pan with butter⁴

6. Place one heaping tbsp of batter in each mold cavity, a #60 cookie scoop works well

7. Bake at 375°F for 3 minutes, drop the oven temperature down to 350°F⁴ and bake for another 8-10 minutes, until the edges of the madeleines are golden brown. Remove from oven and invert madeleines on to a wire rack immediately. Let cool

Best served the day they are baked, batter keeps in the fridge for 2 days.

---

Last but certainly not least; buckwheat canele. When executed perfectly, canele are famously my favorite pastry… although that standard of execution is quite hard to find. I’ve yet to find a standout example in Portland, although the clove cassava flour ones from Berlu are a fun twist. They’re notoriously fussy, I remember spending a good month doing regular test bakes in my tiny Brooklyn apartment until I figured them out.

Apparently I started making a canele zine 4 years ago?

A lot of messing about with temperature, different techniques to “shock” the outer crust, ratios of honey and beeswax, there were so many different variables to tweak. It’s also one of the first things that evoked a “wait… can I bake?” realization in me, up there with first good looking sourdough boule and challah I pulled out of the oven — pictured below because when else will I have a chance to pull up photos from 6 years ago??

Evidence of once being able to make okay looking bread

I had yet to figure out the nuances in my new oven, so first I did a few test bakes with my standard canele recipe.

Once that was more or less figured out, I moved on try the same 2:1 flour:buckwheat ratio that seems to work without inhibiting texture, in the madeleines at least.

Flavor wise these were fully delicious, the aforementioned savory and nutty undertones pair beautifully with the caramelized, subtly honeyed exterior shell. Texturally… there was some room for improvement. The buckwheat changed the texture of the batter pretty significantly during its rest. The outer crust was well formed, but the interiors were a little too wet, not quite getting to that custardy cakey density that is a signature characteristic of the pastry.

I can fix this, I think. For a while, I had a “like it’s hard???” attitude about baking canele, but I feel sufficiently humbled by how long it’s taking me to get back to the consistency and quality I used to achieve in my old kitchen.

---

Best buckwheat bites

I finally went to Alpenrausch and really enjoyed everything we had except for the fondue, which… checks out. I’m historically pretty ho hum on both fondue and the other Swiss cheese darling, raclette (maybe it’s the lactose intolerance, but as if that could stop me). The clear highlight of the meal was the pizzoccheri; thick ribbons of buckwheat noodles, cabbage, potatoes, and fontina… could it get any better? Here are all of my favorite things on one plate. The rosti, käsespätzle and schnapps flight were also hits.

---

Nice things for… buckwheat lovers (back by popular demand)

It feels like I eat this Nishiki seven grain rice mix almost everyday? Sometimes mixed with white rice, often just by itself. Especially if you have a rice cooker, it’s great for simple meals that can handle a grain base with a little tooth. My recent breakfast of choice is this rice, with some marinated eggs and avocados, or whatever else might kicking around the fridge.

---

I’m limiting my coffee intake to one a day, truly devastating for a caffeine fiend living in Portland, OR which is, in my humble opinion, the coffee capital of these here United States of America. This has created space for low and no caffeine options to enter my hot beverage rotation. Buckwheat tea, alongside various mint, chamomile, and lemon verbena drinks, have been a great way to keep the ritual but ditch the sleepless nights. This soba-cha from Kettl is nice, but I’ll also buy whatever I can find at my local H Mart⁵

---

So to my home bakers: buy a bag of buckwheat flour! A little goes a long way. Next I want to play around with some savory bread making, perhaps try a buckwheat bagel if that is not pushing my luck too far.

-R

1. Technically a seed

2. I had hoped to be able to tell a fun story about a weird childhood love of multigrain Cheerios but alas, buckwheat is not in the mix

3. I have yet to entertain in Portland in December — help??? I hope you hate sunlight???

4. Melting and using a pastry brush creates the most even coverage. I recommend using a carbon steel pan over silicone

5. Lol, I reference H Mart so often because it’s the only Asian grocery store I can walk to 🥲