Crispy Quinoa -- Cheetos' Little Cousin

Crispy Quinoa -- Cheetos' Little Cousin 00:00 Intro 00:58 What is Mini-frying 01:24 Cooking Quinoa 02:57 Deep-frying Quinoa Note about water amount: Keep notes as you cook. If your quinoa is too hard, use more water next time. If it’s too soft, use less. The water amount I list below is the one that works well for me for 1 cup of quinoa in an 8” pot with sloped sides and a regular lid (not a lid with a gasket, like a rice cooker). The more cups of quinoa you are cooking, the less water you’ll need per cup of quinoa. If your pot has a wider diameter, you’ll need more water. If your pot has a lid with a gasket, you’ll need less. Cooking Quinoa: 1 cup white quinoa 1 cup + 2 Tbsp water (see note above) 2 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher salt (or 1 tsp Table salt) or to taste Put 1 cup of quinoa into a fine mesh sieve. Put it into a small pot and cover completely with water (this is not the water with a measurement). Rinse it a couple of times to remove the saponin -- that’s the bitter coating that naturally covers the quinoa seeds. Drain the quinoa and return to the pot. Add 1 cup + 2 Tbsp water (or whatever amount works well for your pot). Add the salt. Set over high heat and bring to a simmer. Cover. Reduce the heat to moderately-low (whatever you need to maintain a gentle simmer). Cook for 20 min. Take off heat. Rest for 10 min covered. Uncover and fluff with a fork. Frying Quinoa: 3 Tbsp refined oil (like sunflower or grapeseed) Have a paper towel lined plate and a fine mesh spoon ready. Set your smallest skillet over moderately high heat and add the oil. Wait for it to shimmer, but not smoke. Add about a teaspoon of quinoa and tilt the pan to collect all the oil on one side and make it deeper. Shake the pan gently and move the grains around occasionally. In about a minute, they’ll become golden brown and you can fish them out with a fine mesh spoon onto a paper towel lined plate. Make sure you remove as many grains as you can, but don’t go crazy. If a couple are left that’s ok. Repeat until you have enough quinoa to use as a garnish. 1-2 tsp is typically enough for 1 serving. Support my channel https://www.patreon.com/helenrennie My cooking classes in the Boston area: http://www.helenrennie.com FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/HelensKitchenCooking/ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/helen.rennie