I have been wanting a mortar and pestle for a long time...For some reason, I have denied myself what is easily one of the most affordable kitchen gadgets in the marketplace. I have looked at various styles, most of them marble or stone. This weekend, my mom and partner purchased a mortar and pestle for me favored by the Japanese community in a small town on the coast of Oregon. Apparently, it is created in a way that they consider to be "proper". I had no idea what that mean, but it was a thing of beauty...a wooden pestle, with an open mortar, in bowl shape, made of ceramic with deep grooves in the bottom and on the sides.
I was intrigued and decided to do a little bit of research. I went to an amazing site called Gourmet Sleuth. There I was introduced to the Suribachi (the bowl) and Surikogi (the pestle).
The Suribachi is an earthenware bowl, glazed on the topside with deep grooves on the inside. These ridges are called kushi-no-me and make grinding much easier. The Surikogi is made of wood instead of a harder substance, like stone, to prevent wear on the ridges.
Historically, the suribachi and the surikogi were used medicinally. Later they were used in cooking for grinding sesame seeds, miso and soybeans. Recently, I used it to create a dry rub for chicken.
The rub consists of coarse salt, pepper, fennel seeds, dried thyme and dried basil. The resulting melange was amazing. The fragrance created by the herbs releasing their essential oils was heavenly and perfumed the whole house.
I highly recommend trying the suribachi and surikogi...great history and great food...a great combination!
