In this issue of Chef Says, our friend and wonderful cook Ben Fossen (@fossenben) teaches us how to make one of the most signature salsas of the Latin American cuisine: salsa verde, using the one ingredient that we talked about from the previous #LEARNABOUT section: tomatillo.

The mysterious origin of the "special" taste

Step-by-Step Guide to Making Salsa Verde

Traditionally, salsa verde is made by blending all the ingredients by hand, and to aid this maneuver, tomatillos are usually grilled for softening, then chopped finely. However, in these modern times, we are blessed with blenders and food processors, and that's the way we are going to do it in this article.

What you will need:






After you collect, chop, and prepare all of the ingredients, simply combine them all and blend!

Chef Says

This issue of #LEARNABOUT will be the first part of a three-part series featuring various plants from the nightshade/eggplant family Solanaceae. In this first issue, we will look into two fruits that are very closely related to each other: ground cherries and tomatillos. In the next issue, we will look into many other kinds of edible berries from the Solanaceae family. In the last issue, we will take a deeper look of the chemistry behind poisonous nature of the Solanaceae family.
Ground cherries and tomatillos are both from the genus Physalis. Ground cherries commonly refer to the species Physalis peruviana, and tomatillos commonly refer to the species Physalis philadelphica. However, keep in mind, these species are just two among the hundreds of species being grown worldwide.
If you are confused about the family-genus-species Latin names, please visit Vol.5.1 where we talk about the botanical nomenclature.

What are they?

Why should I eat them?

Where can I find them? 

How to eat ground cherries/tomatillos

• Tomatillos are a key ingredient in green sauce/salsa (salsa verde) in Latin American food. However, you can, of course, substitute tomatillos with ground cherries. You will get a sweeter version of the salsa. Our next Chef Says section will feature salsa verde. Stay tuned!
  
• Eat ground cherries raw. They are delicious. Just pop them out of the husks/calyces. 
• Eat them in salads. Substitute cherry tomatoes with either of ground cherries/tomatillos. 
• Ground cherries/tomatillos can stay fresh up to several months in the fridge if you leave the husks/calyces intact. They also freeze very well. 
• Make jam out of ground cherries!
  
• The healthiness of the husks/calyces is a key indicator to the health of the fruit. If the husks/calyces seem robust and seals well and are not too translucent, then you got yourself a healthy fruit. The ground cherry husks usually appear yellow to brown-yellow, and the tomatillo husks usually appear green to yellow-brown. 

How not to eat ground cherries/tomatillos

Flavor Indexes

If you ask your friends from Eastern Asia or your fellow Asian food lovers about Asian markets, it is no secret that they will probably tell you about a market called "United Noodles."
Tucked away in the corner of a busy street in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis, United Noodles has been serving the community for years. However, it is not until recent years that United Noodles has gained itself a new status: a cult. Specifically, Unideli, the deli inside of United Noodles, gathered a cult following for its good quality ramen, BBQ pork, and house-brewed kombucha.
In this issue of Chef Says, we interviewed the chef of Unideli, Dan Prentice, for his house-brewed kombucha.

kombucha ≠ kombu + cha 

If you recall from our last issue, we told you that takoyaki = tako + yaki, which means octopus + grill. You can probably infer that kombucha, another word with japanese etymology = kombu (which means kelp) + cha (which means tea). You would be right 100%, except kombucha actually has nothing to do with kombu at all, and even more strangely, no one knows where the name kombucha comes from.
So what is kombucha?
Kombucha is actually a form of fermented tea, and just like anything fermented, such as yogurt or vinegar, it is done so with the help of microbes. In kombucha's case, the microbes used is called SCOBY.

SCOBY dooby doo

SCOBY stands for "Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast," and like how it sounds, it's a symbiotic culture where bacteria (mostly Gluconacetobacter xylinus) and yeast work together to bring you the final product of a fizzy, slightly sour beverage. Here's SCOBY under a microscope.

The SCOBY kind of looks like an alien mushroom. Two major chemical reactions take place in the SCOBY culture between the yeast and bacteria:
1. Yeast aerobic reaction: Glucose => Ethanol + Carbon Dioxide + Energy
2. Bacteria aerobic reaction: Ethanol + Water => Acetic Acid + other byproducts (amino acids, vitamins etc.)
The dissolved carbon dioxide is what gives kombucha the fizzy property (just like carbonated soda).
The acetic acid is what gives kombucha the sour taste (just like vinegar). Occasionally, you will taste some alcohol, and that is due to the incomplete digestion of the ethanol by the bacteria.


You can learn to make your own SCOBY here. Or, if you are a loyal fan, Chef Dan will probably give you his SCOBY culture.

Health claims of kombucha: what's real and what's not? 

There have been many health claims for kombucha, ranging from stimulating the immune system to preventing cancer to improving digestion and liver function. However, there's no scientific evidence to support these health claims.
What kombucha is rich with is nutritional benefits. Because remember, quite simply, the base ingredient of kombucha is tea. Therefore, it has all the health benefits that comes with drinking tea. It is also loaded with vitamins and minerals as a result of fermentation. It also contains live probiotic cultures, so it's likely to aid digestion. As Chef Dan put it: "It tastes good, and I feel good drinking it." Kombucha has gained spotlight in the recent years and is becoming a household name of a healthy and delicious mealtime beverage.

Kombucha Q+A with Chef Dan

1. What kind of tea do you use when you make your kombucha? 

Dan: I use different kinds of tea for different flavors. For example, for our lychee watermelon flavor, I used lychee infused black tea; and for the Thai chilly cucumber, I use oolong tea and genmaicha (), which is a Japanese green tea combined with roasted brown rice. I try not to use herbal tea because the oils in herbal tea usually don't mix well with the SCOBY.

2. How do you make your kombucha so it's so perfectly balanced with sweetness from the fruit flavors and the sourness?

Chef Says