5 Ways to Eat Hop Shoots: How to Pick and Eat Hops in Spring скачать в хорошем качестве

5 Ways to Eat Hop Shoots: How to Pick and Eat Hops in Spring

In this video, I start off by looking at the 2 different kinds of hop shoots. Then I show you 5 ways that I like to eat hop shoots every year. I'll give you a bonus tip, too, on preserving your spring hop shoot harvest. If you grow hops or know anybody that does, I hope you are trimming off the early shoots that come up in the springtime! It's better for the health of your plants, you get a bigger crop of hop cones -- and you'll have some great eating, too! Hops are an interesting plant. They have 2 kinds of shoots. The early season, purple "bull shoots" that want to run and expand the hop plant. And the later season, green hop shoots that will flower and bear the most cones for harvest. Every one of the "bull shoots" has to be pruned off, for the health of the hop plant. I use a knife to cut these first shoots off, under the wood chips that I use to mulch my hop bed. Most of the green shoots that come up later in the season have to be pruned off, too, for larger crops of hop cones. Hops are monsters, almost weeds, and make a lot of extra shoots. So even a few plants can give you a lot of shoots to eat in the spring. To harvest the green shoots to eat, I think it's easiest to tell what's worth eating, by snapping off the tender parts, rather than cut them. Whatever snaps off is tender enough to eat. Then I cut and compost the rest of the green shoots. Method #1 - Raw: The easiest way to enjoy eating hop shoots is raw, straight up! They taste like a mild green bean. I like them by themselves, when I'm out picking. I like them with a little balsamic dressing, too. And I like them mixed with other things, like in smoothies and salads. Method #2 - Pickle: This is one of my favorite ways to enjoy hop shoots. I have a video with a really great recipe that only uses 4 ingredients and doesn't take any cooking at all. Pickled hop shoots are great made with the early season shoots, especially the white part that grows underground. But shoots that are a little older work great, too. Method #3 - Sautee: It's simple to sautee hop shoots in a skillet. Use your oil of choice, like olive oil or butter or something else. I don't want to hide the flavor, so I don't add anything else to the early season purple shoots. They go great with eggs poached in a good, dark stout beer. The green hop shoots later in the season are good for sauteeing, too. They do have a little bitterness to them, like some wild greens, but it's not bad. They're more mild than an IPA-style beer! I like to add soy sauce or garlic to these green hop shoots. It takes less than 4 minutes - and they taste great! Method #4 - Blanch: If you don't like the texture of the bigger stems of hop shoots, it's easy to focus on the smooth parts at the ends of the stems. It's worth saving the other parts, though - to enjoy after blanching and then mixing them in anywhere you like other green vegetables. Just put the hop shoots in boiling water for a couple minutes, drain, and then chop into little pieces. They go great with scrambled eggs! Method #5 - Grill: This is my favorite way to enjoy hop shoots. Hop shoots, especially the green ones, taste so different when they are grilled. I use a lightly oiled grill pan on medium high heat and it takes less than 5 minutes, start to finish. The grilling gives the green shoots a nice charred flavor and seems to get rid of any bitterness. Everyone I know who has tried grilled hop shoots, has wanted more of them! They are so good! For grilling, it is important to choose tender hop shoots. That's why it's helpful to snap off the green shoots out in the field, rather than cut them off. In my area, the green hop shoots come into season right with the redbuds - and the 2 go together so well, in taste and in looks. Check out my Redbud playlist to know more about redbuds! Bonus Tip - Freeze: Hops do keep well in the refrigerator for a day or so. After that, they start to get more tough, even though they will still taste good. If you have a lot of hop shoots, they are easy to freeze. Just blanch a couple minutes , cool them off in chilled water, drain, and then bag them up for the freezer. I hope you get to enjoy plenty of hop shoots yourself. I think it's worth growing hops, just to eat them in the springtime. But the hop cones are good for eating, too -- as well as brewing. Check out my videos on hops! My other hops videos: How to Pick, Process and Store Hops:    • Hops: How to harvest, process, and store hops   How to Make Pickled Hop Shoots:    • Hops: How to Pickle Hop Shoots   My playlist on foraging for wild foods:    • Foraging Wild Edibles: Real Food for Regul...   Music: "Bummin on Tremolo", "Thief in the Night", "Groundwork", "Lobby Time", "Spy Glass", "Marty Gots a Plan", "Fluffing a Duck" - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... My channel: Haphazard Homestead:    / @haphazardhomestead