Mortars not just for siege warfare anymore

So maybe you don’t need to make mochi (glutinous rice pounded into paste) like those fellows up there but a good mortar and pestle is always nice to have.  A short while back I was looking to crush some sesame seeds for a Japanese inspired dish I was preparing.  In contemplating the proper way to do this I got to thinking about the many choices one is faced with when looking for a mortar and pestle.  Take for instance the Japanese “usu” (mortar) in the picture above, used along with a long handled pestle called a “kine” (basically a wood mallet) to pound rice into mochi, this might be a little large for most kitchens.  So what is a home cook to do, continue on to find out.

Fortunately for home use I have found that mortars come in basically three varieties (believe me there are many more but three that one can actually find).

First up, and probably most common to people, is the standard “pharmacy” style mortar and pestle.  Typically made from marble, granite or ceramic, these mortars feature fairly smooth non-porous surfaces with pestles commonly made from the same material as the mortar. Due to the nature of materials being used they are normally easy to clean, don’t stain and don’t retain odors from foods. This along with their use makes them the best all around mortar and pestle one can buy, traditionally used by pharmacies to crush various ingredients in preparation of prescriptions, they excel when needing to grind spices into powder or when needing a very fine grind. Remember that since most are made of very hard materials be careful of what surface you choose to grind on since often times the mortar is quite heavy and could be of a harder material than your work surface. Like all mortars and pestles make sure you look for one with a large enough bowl to accommodate the tasks you will be throwing at it.
 Up next we have the Mexican molcajete, known by most as that container that guacamole comes in at the Mexican restaurant, this mortar and pestle dates back thousands of years. Traditionally carved from basalt (a common volcanic rock) these mortars hold their own when coarse grinding is necessary. This is what makes them indispensable for creating salsas and moles (sauces), they also do well with any coarse grinding duties. The porous nature of basalt means that it will never be perfectly clean, as such molcajetes are said to “season” carrying forward flavors from one preparation to the next. Beware of cheaply made molcajetes made from mixes of concrete and basalt which will wear out and produce dust, they also often have very shallow bowls. Just like above make sure that you get one that is large enough for the task, and don’t forget that due to the nature of the design they are going to be quite heavy. In addition to mortar and pestle duties molcajetes make nice servicing vessels and due to their heft and material they can even be heated and used as a cooking device.

 Last up, but my favorite, we have the beautiful Japanese suribachi (mortar) and surikogi (pestle). This earthenware bowl with glazing on the outside features a ridged interior to facilitate grinding. The pestle is wood to prevent smoothing down or breaking the ridges, in very traditional sets the pestle would be made from wood from the sansho tree with the bark left on and is said to impart a slight peppery flavor. There are several traditional patterns that appear in the suribachi most common is the circular line pattern show above also often appearing is a pattern made of small circles.  Due to the ridges the suribachi is great for making pastes and slightly cracking seasame seeds, perfect when you don’t want a powder but just to open them up and release the oils.  Available in many colors and with different lengths of surikogi (using a suribachi is a two handed process so the surikogi is usally quite long).  Since the base of the suribachi is usually left unglazed you will want to be careful to not scratch your work surface when using it.

So there you have it three mortars and pestles with three very distinct looks and functions.  Which one you choose will ultimately be up to the function you are trying to achieve, or if you are anything like us you will just end up collecting all three and being done with it.

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