What is hominy, composition and calorie content. Useful properties and harm. The classic recipe for cooking and other options in the cuisines of the peoples of the world.
Mamalyga is a healthy dish that is prepared on the basis of corn flour or cereals. The cooking process differs depending on the region, but in all variants it is a very thick corn porridge that replaces both bread and side dishes. The dish belongs to Western Ukrainian, Romanian and Moldavian cuisine, but it is also found among the peoples of the Caucasus - Georgians, Adygs, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Ingush. There are many recipes for hominy. Today, this dish has turned from the simplest (before it was eaten exclusively by the poor) into a culinary masterpiece, moreover healthy, tasty and certainly natural.
Composition and calorie content of hominy
In the photo, corn grits for making hominy
The basis of the dish is corn grits or flour (200 g), salt (pinch), water (1 l). This is a classic recipe, so let's talk about the composition of corn first. It contains numerous vitamins, macro- and microelements, as well as 20 amino acids - 12 essential and 8 non-essential.
Vitamins per 100 g:
- Vitamin PP - 2.1 mg;
- Vitamin E - 0.7 mg;
- Vitamin B5 - 0.35 mg;
- Vitamin B6 - 0.25 mg;
- Vitamin B1 - 0.13 mg;
- Vitamin B2 - 0.07 mg;
- Beta carotene - 200 mcg;
- Vitamin B9 - 19 mcg;
- Vitamin A - 17 mcg;
- Biotin - 6, 6 mcg;
- Vitamin B3 - 1.1 mg.
Macronutrients per 100 g:
- Potassium, K - 147 mg;
- Phosphorus, P - 109 mg;
- Sulfur, S - 63 mg;
- Magnesium, Mg - 30 mg;
- Calcium, Ca - 20 mg;
- Sodium, Na - 7 mg.
Microelements per 100 g:
- Iron, Fe - 2, 7 mg;
- Zinc, Zn - 0.5 mg;
- Manganese, Mn - 0.4 mg;
- Copper, Cu - 0.21 mg;
- Boron, B - 215 mcg;
- Chromium, Cr - 22.7 mcg;
- Nickel, Ni - 23.4 μg;
- Molybdenum, Mo - 11.6 μg;
- Cobalt, Co - 4.5 mcg.
Essential amino acids per 100 g:
- Leucine - 1, 1 g;
- Phenylalanine + Tyrosine - 0.66 g;
- Isoleucine - 0.41 g;
- Valine - 0, 41 g;
- Phenylalanine - 0.36 g;
- Arginine - 0.26 g;
- Methionine + Cysteine - 0.25 g;
- Lysine - 0.21 g;
- Threonine - 0.2 g;
- Histidine - 0.14 g;
- Methionine - 0.13 g;
- Tryptophan - 0.06 g.
Replaceable amino acids per 100 g:
- Glutamic acid - 1.5 g;
- Proline - 0.65 g;
- Alanine - 0.6 g;
- Aspartic acid - 0.48 g;
- Serine - 0.4 g;
- Tyrosine - 0.3 g;
- Glycine - 0.23 g;
- Cysteine - 0, 12 g.
The calorie content of corn grits per 100 g is 328 kcal, of which:
- Proteins - 8, 3 g;
- Fat - 1, 2 g;
- Carbohydrates - 71 g;
- Water - 14 g;
- Dietary fiber - 4, 8 g;
- Ash - 0.7 g.
Note! After heat treatment, almost 99% of all nutrients remain in corn grits.
The calorie content of hominy cooked according to the classic recipe from cereals (234 g), water (1 l) with the addition of salt (5 g), per 100 g of product is 55, 2 kcal, of which:
- Proteins - 1, 3 g;
- Fat - 0.3 g;
- Carbohydrates - 11, 8 g;
- Dietary fiber -8 g;
- Water - 77 g.
The composition of hominy contains the same nutrients as in corn grits. These are vitamins, macro- and microelements, nonessential and irreplaceable amino acids.
Useful properties of hominy
Photo of hominy from corn grits
Did you know that one of the reasons for the longevity of the inhabitants of the Carpathians, along with constant physical exertion, clean water and air, is the daily use of hominy along with sheep's cheese? This is a proven fact.
The benefits of hominy are enormous. If you use it regularly:
- The risk of stroke, heart attack and other cardiovascular pathologies will significantly decrease - corn prevents the deposition of cholesterol plaques on the walls of blood vessels;
- The seasonal incidence of ARVI and ARI will decrease - bacterial and viral infections will be bypassed, because the immune system will work in full force;
- The metabolism will speed up - hominy is ideal for dietary nutrition (it can easily replace bread), it helps to reduce weight, in addition, it is easy to digest;
- The work of the gastrointestinal tract is normalized - corn prevents fermentation in the intestines and putrefactive processes;
- Toxins, radionuclides and other harmful substances will gradually be eliminated from the body;
- The condition of the skin, hair, nails and gums will improve.
There is no allergy to classic hominy. Corn is gluten free. Hominy can be an excellent bread substitute for people with wheat gluten allergies.
Other useful properties of hominy:
- acts as a mild sedative;
- normalizes blood sugar levels;
- expels excess water from the body;
- breaks down fats;
- prevents lung cancer due to its high content of cryptoxanthin;
- slows down the aging of the brain due to the content of thiamine - vitamin B1;
- prevents rectal cancer;
- is a source of folic acid and is recommended for pregnant women.
Contraindications and harm to hominy
Mamalyga is not recommended for people with gastritis in the acute phase, gastric ulcer, dystrophy and anorexia.
Individual intolerance is also possible, like any other product, but this is extremely rare.
Note! If you are healthy, hominy will definitely not bring harm.
How to cook hominy?
Mamalyga has always been considered a dish of the poor. They ate it, seasoning with vegetable oil, usually with vegetables. The rich flavored the dish with sour cream, butter, cheese and eggs, and ate it with meat and fish.
You can take groats for hominy from the store. But your best bet is to buy corn kernels and grind them yourself. The grinding should be fine, although you can cook the dish from coarse cereals, and even from flour.
The classic recipe for how to cook hominy:
- Sift the groats from the store.
- Fill a thick-walled saucepan, or better a cast-iron cauldron, with water (1 liter), throw in 5 g of salt and wait for it to boil.
- Pour the cereal (234 g) into boiling water in portions: first, a third and stir with a wooden spoon, then another third and repeat the action, then everything else.
- Once the water boils again, reduce heat to medium.
- Cook until thick, stirring constantly.
- Next, make the fire very small and keep stirring. Mamalyga will be ready as soon as it starts to stick well from the walls of the cauldron.
- When the porridge turns into a yellow elastic lump, the hominy is ready. Leave it on the fire for a couple of minutes, then dump it on a towel or clean, unused wood plank.
- Cut the lump with waxed thread. Better yet, make a special device first - large heads of cheese are cut the same way, only instead of a thread they use a fishing line or a thin string.
Recipes for cooking hominy in the cuisines of the peoples of the world
Pictured is an Italian porridge polenta
A similar dish has been known since the days of Ancient Rome. True, then on the territory of present-day Europe there was no corn, so it was prepared from other cereals - millet, barley, spelled, wheat.
Moldovans and Romanians consider hominy as their national dish. It is useless to dissuade them: they will not believe it anyway. And all housewives need to know that hard-boiled corn porridge is found in many kitchens. Italian polenta and American corn delirium are the same hominy, only cooked a little differently.
You don't need to be a super chef to make hominy. This is the simplest dish. But you can always make it extraordinary by adding any ingredients to your liking. And it is not at all necessary that the corn porridge be bland or slightly salty. Varieties of hominy with raisins, dried apricots, and prunes are no less tasty and, moreover, very useful.
How to cook hominy:
- Italian polenta … A classic dish is prepared in a thick-walled dish, mixed during the entire cooking time with a wooden spoon, from the ingredients - only cereal and water in a ratio of 1: 3 (1, 5 glasses of water and half a glass of cereal). Cooking time is on average a quarter of an hour. Polenta is considered ready when it moves well from the walls of the dishes, and where it comes into contact with them, crusts are formed. But then the magic begins: the Italians make a great variety of polenta, and the traditional dish for the poor ceases to be one, acquiring an extraordinary taste due to the ingredients introduced: grated cheese, butter and finely chopped parsley, milk (the porridge is cut into pieces, often of intricate shape, so that was beautiful, laid out on plates and poured with milk) fried onions and mushrooms, baked pumpkin, grated hard cheese and butter - butter and vegetable, grated cheese, spinach, garlic and olive oil, shrimp, tomato paste, parsley and green onions.
- Hutsul banosh … This is an analogue of hominy, but clearly not for the poor. Banosh is cooked exclusively by men. Each Hutsul house has a specially designated place for preparing this dish. One of the most common recipes: sour cream, preferably homemade (3 cups), bring to a boil, add a little salt and sugar (to taste), slowly pour corn flour into it (1 cup). Stir all the time, always with a wooden spoon and in one direction. Cook until drops of oil appear on the surface of the porridge, and it itself does not easily move away from the walls. Serve with fried mushrooms, cracklings, or sheep's cheese.
- Tokan in Transcarpathian … To prepare hominy, cook a not very thick porridge (take 1, 2 liters of water for 300 g of cereal), add butter, salt a little and mix. Place a low-rimmed metal bowl over very low heat. Put a layer of porridge 1-2 cm thick in it, a layer of grated cheese on top, again a layer of porridge and cracklings. Repeat the steps until the porridge is over, alternating layers. If it turns out to be dry, add a little butter. But it is forbidden to add cereal or add water during the preparation of the tokan. Pour the resulting puff pastry on top with the fat melted during the preparation of the cracklings, and let it stand for about 5 minutes. They eat the tokan like a cake - breaking off the pieces with a spoon from top to bottom so that all the layers are in the plate.
- American Corn Delirium … The Americans, as always, have made something harmful, but tasty, from a healthy dish that helps to lose weight and improve the body's health. Ingredients for root delirium: 1.5 cups cornmeal, one egg, 1/4 cup confectionery fat, 1.5 cups buttermilk, 1 teaspoon each baking powder and baking soda, 0.5 teaspoon salt. Melt the pastry fat in a skillet. While it's melting, combine the cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add melted pastry fat, 3/4 cup buttermilk, and egg, and knead to the dough. Leftover buttermilk can be added as needed. Pour the dough into a hot skillet. Bake in a hot oven for a quarter of an hour. Check readiness with a toothpick. Remove the finished nonsense root from the oven, cool slightly (10 minutes is enough) and cut into pieces. Remember that a mixer is not used when preparing the dish, all the ingredients are mixed by hand.
- Bulgarian kacamak … It is prepared in the same way as traditional hominy, but then the most interesting thing. While the kakash is hot, baked bell pepper, feta cheese are added to it, and chili is sprinkled on top. Usually not salted - cheese is enough.
- Caucasian variants of hominy … These are the Abkhaz abysta and the Adyghe meremise. The first and second options are prepared in about the same way. But brine suluguni and butter are usually added to abysta, but meremise is an absolutely bland dish. It is prepared without salt and sugar.
- Ossetian Shire … It is made with milk or milk whey with added sugar and salt. Put the finished porridge on a dish, make a notch in the center and put more butter there.
- Georgian gomi … Prepared from two varieties of corn flour - coarse grinding and the one for mchadi. It is unlikely that something similar can be found in Ukraine or Russia. First, coarse flour is poured into cold water in a thin stream, then for mchad and they stir all the time, otherwise lumps will turn out. They wait until all the water has boiled away - the porridge is ready. It is laid out hot on plates and eaten with sauce and / or meat. Do not mix porridge with anything - it is so customary.
- Mamalyga in Moldavian … Prepares like the Abkhaz one. Dense pieces of porridge are poured with a sauce of onions fried in butter and sprinkled with sheep's cheese.
Watch a video about cooking hominy:
