What is Buckwheat? When Cooking with Grains try Buckwheat Pancake Recipe

What is buckwheat? Despite its name, buckwheat is not a wheat variety, nor does it belong to any family of cereals or grasses. The quick growing flowers produce seeds called achene, which look and feel similar to a sunflower seed. They are encased in a hard outer shell which is rarely used to make buckwheat. The interior of the seeds are white, which gives the buckwheat its color, but darker forms of the flour do exist, and these simply use some of the seed coating and darker hull. There is little or no difference in the cooking properties of different colored buckwheat flour.

Gluten Free Buckwheat

A simple answer to what is buckwheat good for is that it still gives the same sticking properties as regular flour due to its complex carbohydrate structure which makes it useful for those who want to eat bread and cakes but can’t tolerant gluten. The only differences you may notice is that everything will come out looking slightly darker, and both bread and cakes will have a lighter feel and texture as buckwheat is more reactive than wheat flour.

Buckwheat Around The World

If you’re interested in learning about cooking with grains you’ll do well to look at how other countries use them. The popularity of buckwheat around the world comes from its quick growing properties. Each buckwheat plant takes only 3 months to grow, and is season resistant, meaning that you can get 4 harvests each year. You can get an idea of what is buckwheat used for by looking at buckwheat recipes from:

• Japan and Korea – Buckwheat is the key ingredient in soba noodles, which are commonplace across both Japan and Korea. The soba noodles are thin and are served either in a hot miso soup or with a chili dipping sauce. The Japanese maintain that slurping the noodles in a miso soup helps to cool them down and improves the taste.


• Russia and Eastern Europe – Russian peasants would use buckwheat to make kasha, a thick porridge dish with plenty of carbohydrates and fiber. Kasha can now be found in America as a filling for blintzes as a result of Russian and Eastern European immigrants


• France – The French use buckwheat to make galettes, or buckwheat pancakes. These tend to be lighter than the traditional French crepe, and the buckwheat gives them a very down to earth flavor similar to that of fresh mushrooms.

A simple Buckwheat Pancake Recipe

If you’ve never tried it, learning how to cook buckwheat is surprisingly easy and doesn’t differ greatly from using regular flour. By trying this simple pancake recipe, you’ll get a better understanding of what is buckwheat good for in your kitchen:

• ¼ cup butter


• 1 cup buckwheat flour


• 3 eggs


• 1 ¼ cups milk


• Salt

1. Mix the salt and flour together. At the same time, melt the butter and leave for later.

2. Add the eggs one by one, whisking the whole mixture thoroughly as you go. It should start to make a fairly thick paste.

3. Add half the milk a little a time, whisking the mixture again to make a smooth batter.

4. Stir in the remaining milk and half of the melted butter and leave to settle for a couple of hours.

5. When you’re ready to cook the pancakes, check that the mixture has the consistency of a light cream, and add milk if it’s too thick.

6. Heat a skillet over a medium high heat, and put in a little of the butter. When it’s hot, put a ladle of the batter into the skillet and move it around so that it covers the bottom of the pan.

7. After a minute or so, try to flip the pancake with a spatula. If you can turn it over, cook the other side for 30 seconds and serve. If it’s not ready leave it for another minute and try again.

Serve these pancakes with savory accompaniments like ham or cheese. You’ll see what is buckwheat so popular for as you’ll get a slight hint of mushrooms and earth when you bite into them.

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