So I broke out the green mash recipe at the new gig today. I’m working on recipe for [redacted], which calls for an accompanying sauce, and I figured I’d give it a try in the test kitchen. It went over pretty much as I’d expected: most tasters liked it a lot, but reckoned that it might be a little too exotic for publication, and would likely end up on the cutting room floor. Several of them asked me for the recipe, so I figured it was time to finally get it up here on The Fermenter. The recipe, such as it is, was passed down to me from Peter* and John, who got it from Richard, who learned from it a Zen master on the eastern slopes of Mt. Fuji, or so I’ve heard.
The basic theme goes like this: take a clove or two of garlic, a healthy pinch of salt, an umemboshi plum or two (the pickled kind), and grind them to a smooth paste in a suribachi (Japan’s take on a mortar & pestle). Toss in a few tablespoons pine nuts, toasted if you like, then grind them smooth as well. Add a generous glug of olive oil, the juice from a lemon, a couple three twists of black pepper, and stir it all up. Then take a large amount of your favorite greens (the bitterer the betterer, I say; today’s contained mustard greens & arugula) and chop them into thin, short shreds. If the greens have thick ribs, remove and chop them separately, as finely as possible. When you are in a hurry you can then just add the shredded greens to the suribachi a handful at a time, and mash them into a course paste. Better yet, if you have time to spare, add all the greens at once, stir to coat them with the paste, and bruise the whole lot with the pestle a bit. Cover and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or so, by which time the acid and the salt will wilt the greens and temper their bitterness a bit. Then mash it all up, and have at it.
Variations on this simple tune will be immediately obvious after you’ve sung along once or twice. Just about any and all greens work, and the combinations and permutations are infinite (radicchio makes for a particularly luscious purple mash). Herbs like basil, parsley, and cilantro can add interesting high notes. Any kind of nut instead of pine. Toasted breadcrumbs, maybe. Anchovies, capers, preserved lemons, vinegar, chiles or chile sauce, and, well, you get the picture.
You can of course make mash in a food processor, though it’s not nearly as satisfyingly meditative as churning away with a mortar and pestle. Just be sure to grind up all the chunky bits before adding the liquids, and pulse in short bursts to keep the mixture from becoming soup.
Green mash is the perfect accompaniment for just about everything savory. Its zing is great for punching up bland dishes like rice and mashed or steamed potatoes, and it modulates the unctuous like nothing else. It is our go-to topping for a crusty rare steak (much like its Argentine kissing-cousin, chimichurri). It is also an excellent digestive, much like kimchi.
*The observant blog enthusiast will note that this post bears striking similarity to Mr. Barrett’s own paean to green mash, right down to the accompanying photo. I like to think of it as an homage, rather than outright theft.
September 24, 2009, 11:16pm Comments
