Dear friends, welcome back. 🙂 Today I am sharing some insights into the basic cooking of barley in its three types: pearled, hulled, and whole grain.
The idea came to me in the past few days as I was preparing for the upcoming Light and Tasty recipe (update: these Tofu and Barley Filled Cups), a preparation that led me to research a bit about barley, particularly on how to cook the hulled barley I bought specifically for the recipe.
Yes, I admit it, I had to research 🙂 because barley is a cereal I cook a bit too infrequently!, even though I really like it.
In the end, I decided to share with you what I learned from reading various articles, especially two: the information on hulled barley cooking from my faithful and indispensable book The Green Spoon, and then this very detailed article by my friend Daniela from the blog Timo e Lenticchie, for me the most thorough and well-written I’ve found.
Some basic information about barley grains:
Depending on the refinement process, barley is classified as whole grain, hulled, and pearled, plus there’s the hulless barley, which in the publications I’ve read recently is sometimes referred to as whole grain and sometimes as hulled (or dehulled). This had left me a bit perplexed – is it whole grain or hulled? – until, thanks to Daniela, I resolved the doubt. In this page of hers she confirmed the suspicion I already had based on my personal recollections: hulless barley is an ancient variety that had fallen into disuse and has been reintroduced and cultivated mainly in the Marche (but also in Umbria), from which only the glume, the outer husk of the grain, is removed.
Indeed – a little personal digression – whenever I go shopping in Pesaro, or when we go on vacation to the inland Marche we love so much, I always buy an anise-flavored barley coffee with packaging clearly stating it’s hulless barley grown in the Marche.
Apart from this digression on hulless barley, which is undoubtedly not available in all regions, returning to the standard classification of barley… what type of barley do you usually buy? I imagine you already know you can choose between:
– Whole grain barley: it undergoes no processing and has intact grains; like all whole grains, it retains all its nutritional characteristics, requires a long soak (24 hours) and prolonged cooking (about 90 minutes).
– Hulled barley: undergoes removal of the outermost part of the grain (bran and germ); requires an overnight soak (8-12 hours) and cooks in 40-50 minutes, the time may vary depending on the soak duration.
– Pearled barley: the most refined, undergoes pearling (removal of the outer husk of the grains), which eliminates the need for soaking and shortens the cooking time (30-40 minutes); for obvious reasons, this variety of barley is the least nutritious and is fiber-free.
Since whole grain barley is not always available in supermarkets and is not always convenient to cook due to the long cooking time, and since pearled barley is the most refined, the most recommended barley for a diet as attentive as possible is hulled barley, which retains good nutritional values being only deprived of the outermost part of the grain. In short, it’s a valid middle ground between the three types. However, the most widespread and most used is pearled barley. Also by me, until now. 🙂 But now that I’ve tried hulled barley I’ve realized it’s worth using, after all, you only have to make the ‘effort’ of soaking it, the rest makes little difference in terms of cooking, while it makes a lot in nutritional terms.
Here is how to proceed for the basic cooking of the three types of barley.
I inform you that at the moment I’ve included photos only in the ‘hulled barley basic cooking’ section, but when I cook the other two varieties I will update this page.
Happy reading!
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 15 Hours
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 55.54 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 12.79 (g) of which sugars 0.13 (g)
- Proteins 1.02 (g)
- Fat 0.20 (g) of which saturated 0.04 (g)of which unsaturated 0.12 (g)
- Fibers 1.73 (g)
- Sodium 89.77 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 1 cup barley (in grains, after soaking)
- 2 cups water
Tools
- Bowl
- Colander
- Saucepan
Basic Barley Cooking in Grains: How to Proceed
Wash the barley thoroughly to remove impurities, then place it in a bowl to soak in cold water.
After 24 hours of soaking, drain the barley, rinse it, and pour it into a large pot with water in a 1:3 ratio (one part barley and three parts water).
Cook on low heat for about 90 minutes until the water is fully absorbed.
Rinse the hulled barley under running water, or in a bowl by changing the water 3-4 times, until all impurities are removed.
Soak the barley in cold water for about 12 hours (overnight). The soaking can be extended depending on the recipe in which it will be used (I soaked it for 15 hours).
Drain the barley from the soaking water and rinse it.
Hulled barley after soaking:
Place it in a pot with water in a 1:2 ratio, i.e., one part barley (one cup) and two parts water (two cups).
I also tried the 1:3 ratio, which I personally recommend only if you need to cook the barley for more than 40 minutes, for example, if it needs to be used in a filling or meatballs. To get a regular cooking with separate grains, from my tests, I recommend a 1:2 ratio. To be precise: measure one cup of barley (after soaking) and then two cups of water using the same cup.
Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat to the minimum (I also move it to the smallest burner) and cook with the lid closed for 40 minutes.
If the soaking has been less than 12 hours, the cooking time may be longer.
If the ratio between barley and water is correct, and if the lid is used (closed or semi-closed), the barley will be cooked when the water is completely absorbed.
At the end of cooking, let it rest with the lid closed for 5-10 minutes.
Stirring the barley during cooking is not necessary, but my advice is to check it from time to time, especially the lid: I have found that every 10-15 minutes it’s good to open it, or keep it semi-closed, to avoid the overflow of even a small amount of water due to the foam produced during cooking (it happened to me even though the flame was at the minimum and the pot had high sides, I will investigate further to improve this aspect).
If the hulled barley is to be used for a soup, a larger amount of water can be used. If you intend to use it for a cream or filling, the cooking time can be extended to soften it according to the recipe’s requirements.
Here is how my hulled barley looks after being cooked for 40 minutes:
Pearled barley can be cooked without soaking.
Even without soaking, it still needs to be washed well to remove impurities.
Pearled barley can be cooked by absorption with the same method I described above for hulled barley.
Pearled barley is also widely used in soups, as with the other two varieties.
But it is very suitable for use in dry recipes: it’s the case of the so-called ‘orzotto’, a risotto-like cooking method, with toasting and adding a little broth at a time.
If you’ve never cooked orzotto, try it with turmeric! We liked it a lot!
Barley is very filling, so it is suggested in low-calorie diets, just a minimal amount is enough to get a nice bowl of soup. Furthermore – like spelt and oats and like pseudocereals (i.e., quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat) – barley is a cereal with a low glycemic index.
Cooking barley is… stimulating 🙂 because it lends itself to use in many different recipes, not just in soups or orzotti I’ve made so far, as in these two recipes I link, if you haven’t seen them yet:
– Whole Grain Rice and Pearled Barley Salad
And yet in these days of experimentation, I have realized that barley can also find its place in many alternative recipes, like in fillings or in meatballs and burgers.
But… Uh… If you’re thinking what I’m thinking… No, no, the next recipe will neither be a meatball nor a burger! 😀 I fully intend to make a…
…eh, you already know… a dessert! 😀
Salt-Free Tips
Since I cook without salt (you already know, right?), I didn’t include its use in this tutorial.
If you are not as low-sodium as I am, but your barley cooking is intended for use in a sweet recipe, it goes without saying that salt is not necessary, but if you plan to use your barley in a soup or other savory recipe, I invite you to follow my salt-free tips listed below. And why not get closer to low-sodium cooking, it’s good for your health! 😀
If you use salt and are not ready (not yet) to reduce it… according to what the book The Green Spoon says regarding barley cooking, salt should be added when boiling begins. But just a pinch! 🙂
If you’re interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Decrease the salt gradually, the palate needs to get used to it slowly and not notice the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili pepper, black pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruits. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my salt-free vegetable granules and gomasio.
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid water-based cooking, prefer methods that do not disperse flavors (grill, foil, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid having the saltshaker on the table!
▫ Occasionally allow yourself to break the rule. It boosts morale and helps you persevere.
If you don’t want to, or can’t, give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes seasoning according to your habits.
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