Job's tears are incredibly delicious, nutritious, and practically non-existent on the menus and tables I encounter. It perplexes me, because I love this ingredient. We're talking about an ancient heirloom pseudo-grain - it looks like a plump back tooth or molar. Technically, Job's tears come from a grass that produces these edible, ivory, bead-like seeds - pictured below. It is nutritionally significant, with a high protein to carbohydrate ratio, and is consumed in many cultures -- India, Japan, Korea, Burma, Thailand, the list is long -- to promote a wide range of benefits, and to support wellness in general. A notable exception, pregnant, and nursing women are often advised to avoid it, as are individuals on diabetes medications (because of its ability to lower blood sugar). Check with your medical professional if you're in either category. Job's tears are gluten-free, and although you might (also) see it labelled as Chinese barley, it is unrelated to barley. Check for gluten-free certification if you are concerned about cross-contamination with other grains containing gluten. I also see it around labelled hato mugi.
I'm still anticipating a few blank stares here, but I so love these unusual, versatile, and beneficial little weirdos, that I figure highlighting them might inspire you to welcome them to your repertoire if you haven't already. You can use Job's tears in an infinite number of ways, but here's how I did it last. My idea: make a thin, flavor-forward coconut broth which would envelop the Job's tears. Incorporate toasted coconut, spicy mustard oil, and the fresh curry leaves I had in the freezer. Here's how it worked.
After cooking a pot of Job's tears -- which, by the way, plump beautiful into chewy, substantial bites that have a texture that falls somewhere between pearled barley and pozole -- I set them aside. That's the most time intensive part of what becomes a perfect wintery-warming stew. From there, open a can of coconut milk, skim the cream from the top and use that as the cooking fat and base for a coconut broth. Give more dimension with a quick paste of shallots, garlic, serrano chile, and curry leaf, and increase the volume of the broth with the remainder of the coconut milk and some water. Add the cooked Job's tears to the pot once the broth comes to a simmer, then flare it out upom serving with extra texture and flavor when serving. It didn't occur to me until this very second that quick-pickled mustard greens with be the perfect topping, in addition to the other ideas listed in the recipe below, but there you have it. I save the broth from cooking the Job's tears, and make a tea with it, or use it as a component in preparations later in the week.
There is more information on Job's tears here, and a cool article about Job's tears used in baking flour here. As far as sourcing goes, you're most likely to find them in natural food stores, in the Asian section of some grocers, or do a search for organic Job's tears online. I'm hoping that if you happen to cook with them, perhaps you'll share your ideas and experiments in the comments here as well. That would be exciting for me. Keep scrolling for the full coconut broth recipe - it's down the page just a bit - enjoy! -h
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