Fluffy buckwheat kasha with browned cremini and oyster mushrooms and onion in butter, served with sour cream. Buckwheat microgreens add a fresh, sorrel-like tang.
INGREDIENTS
- 300 g - whole roasted buckwheat groats (kasha)
- 600 ml - boiling water (2 1/2 cups)
- salt
- 2 tbsp - sunflower or other neutral oil
- 150 g - yellow onion
- 300 g - cremini or white mushrooms
- 200 g - oyster mushrooms
- 30 g - butter (2 tbsp)
- black pepper
- 100 g - sour cream for serving
- 30 g - buckwheat microgreens
STEPS
- Pick over and rinse the buckwheat, pat it dry, and toast it in a dry skillet for 3-4 minutes, stirring, until it smells nutty.
- Transfer to a pot, add the boiling water and salt, bring back to a boil, and cook covered over the lowest heat for 15 minutes. Take off the heat and leave covered for 10 minutes more.
- While the buckwheat cooks, slice the onion into half-moons and cook it in half the oil until golden, 8-10 minutes. Move to a bowl.
- Slice the mushrooms and cook them in the rest of the oil over high heat in a single layer, in batches, for 6-8 minutes, until browned. Season with salt and pepper at the end.
- Toss the buckwheat with the mushrooms, onion, and butter, and heat through for 2 minutes.
- Divide among plates, add sour cream, and top with the buckwheat microgreens.
Buckwheat Microgreens with Buckwheat and Mushrooms
Buckwheat with mushrooms and onion is one of the simplest dishes in Ukrainian cooking, and in the fall, when mushrooms are cheap, it’s on the table all the time. It’s hearty and mellow, and with sour cream it’s rich as well. Buckwheat microgreens add what it’s missing: a fresh tartness somewhere between young sorrel and juicy lettuce. Their pink stems and round leaves stand out against the dark grain.
Put the microgreens on the finished buckwheat just before serving; heat wilts them quickly.
About the Ingredients
Buckwheat microgreens: 30 g for four servings. Sorrel microgreens work as a swap, with a sharper tang.
Buckwheat: whole roasted groats (kasha). Cracked buckwheat cooks down to porridge.
Mushrooms: cremini, white button, oyster, or wild. Dried porcini (20 g, soaked for half an hour) give a deeper flavor; add the soaking liquid to the buckwheat.
Sour cream for serving: full-fat or light.
Technique: Toast the Groats, Don’t Crowd the Mushrooms
Before cooking, toast the dry buckwheat in a skillet for 3-4 minutes, until it smells nutty. That keeps the grains separate instead of clumping. Cook the mushrooms over high heat in a single layer. Crowd the pan and they release their juices and steam instead of browning. Salt the mushrooms at the end, once they’ve browned.
Variations
- With chicken: brown 300 g diced chicken thigh before the mushrooms.
- Baked: put everything in a clay pot or Dutch oven, add 100 ml cream, and bake for 20 minutes at 350°F (180°C).
- Vegan: sunflower oil instead of butter, no sour cream.
- With an egg: top with a fried egg with a runny yolk.
Serving and Storage
Serve on its own or as a side for meat, with sour cream and dill pickles. Buckwheat with mushrooms keeps in the fridge for 3 days; reheat it in a skillet with a spoonful of water. Add microgreens to each serving separately. Whether to wash microgreens before serving is covered in our wiki: should you wash microgreens.
Another Ukrainian dish with microgreens: deruny (Ukrainian potato pancakes) with onion microgreens.
CHEF'S TIPS
Don't lift the lid or stir the buckwheat while it cooks: the steam finishes the grains, and a spoon breaks them.
Oyster mushrooms cook faster than cremini. If you cook them together, add the oysters 2 minutes later.
