A Brief Guide To Cooking Pearl Barley- By: Musarrat Sheikh

Description : Several people would like to know how to cook barley and in order for them to be successful in this they will have to keep in mind several facts about barley. One of this is that barley is one of the several whole grains available in the market that is mostly used in stews and soups. Barley is a puffy whole grain that can be used as a side dish, salad as well as for chicken sauces. The main types of barley are hulled barley and the more polished pearl barley. Hulled barley is also called barley groats and it is the least processed as well as being nutritious and rich in fiber.

On the other hand pearl barley has an outer bran which is scrubbed off that makes it less nutritious compared to hulled barley. However, pearl barley is the most popular due to its softness and quicker cooking time. The preparation of barley requires it to be pre-soaked overnight in order to be able to cook it faster. Hulled and pearl barley are the most popular categories of barley but there are several other types of barley including barley grits, hato mugi barley, black barley, sprouting barley, scotch or pot barley as well as flaked or rolled barley.

Pearl barley is one of the easiest to cook and this will require you to follow a few guidelines. Preparing of pearl barley will not necessarily require you to have any cooking skills or complicated culinary skills. There are two options of preparing pearl barley namely the pre-soaking overnight or simply cooking it without any advanced preparation. If you are one of the people who need convenience, the pre-soaking method will suit you. Cooking of pearl barley will require you to have several things.

The first ingredient that goes without saying is the barley itself and this should also be accompanied water or broth and lastly a pot that has a tight fitting lid. You can now start the cooking method and the first thing to do is rinsing the barley with a strainer followed by picking out of debris which may have made it through the processing. You should then put the barley to soak overnight as this reduces the barley's cooking time. You are supposed to use double the amount water on the barley meaning that for every one cup of barley you should use 2 cups of water.

You are also supposed to decide if you will use water or broth in boiling the barley. This should be followed by using 2 ? to 3 cups of liquid to 1 cup barley and then adding the liquid in the pot. Wait for the water or broth to boil. The barley can then be added to the already boiling water or broth and follow this up by frequent stirring. Cover the pot with the lid and reduce the heat to low. This is supposed to cook for approx 15 minutes. For those who did not soak their barley in advance they are supposed to let it cook for approx 40 minutes.

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Author Resource : This article touched the basics of the topic. I have 2 more resources related to the above. They are pearl barley how to cook and how to cook barley. Do consider reading them.hostgator discount