Katyk: what is it, how to cook, what is useful and what can harm

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Fermented milk products are popular all over the world. It is well known that some peoples, having passed infancy, cannot consume milk at all, which is very useful for bone tissues. For them, the ideal way out is the use of acidic dairy products, which, moreover, unlike milk, are completely absorbed. Everyone knows yogurt, kefir, sour cream or fermented baked milk. However, there are also more exotic products. For example, katyk. What it is, probably, only the Central Asian peoples and Bulgarians know. The others walk past him, even if he catches their eye.

Katyk: what is it?

It differs from the usual sour-milk assortment in many ways. First of all, the origin of milk. Usually it is sheep, buffalo or goat. Cow is used much less frequently. But this is not the most important difference. Many people think, when trying katyk, that this is such an Asian similarity to curdled milk. However, it ferments itself, and the katyk has to be helped. Moreover, it is not made from raw, but from boiled milk. And in order to get a real katyk, the leaven is taken clearly defined, init must contain in strict proportions the Bulgarian stick and streptococci for lactic fermentation.

Benefit

Like other lactic acid products, katyk is completely absorbed, helps to cope with dysbacteriosis, which occurs, for example, when taking antibiotics, replenishes the body with calcium. An additional bonus is the increased nutritional value that katyk has. Benefit and harm, by the way, are due precisely to it. When the body is weakened after an illness or operation, with intensive development in adolescence, katyk can be called indispensable. And if you use it systematically, you can completely forget about problems with the stomach and never again be afraid of an ulcer.

Harm katyk

Oddly enough, it is largely determined by the same high fat content. So it should not be eaten by those who have weight problems. But, in principle, this is the only limitation. Other harm that can be caused by katyk can only be attributed to bad faith: fakes, improper storage or expired shelf life are a matter of the seller's honesty. Not a defect of the product itself.

Caution should be given to children who are under ten years old. However, this is due solely to the not fully formed digestive system of the child.

Home katyk

Those who live far from where this product is traditionally produced will have to make their own. The process itself is not too complicated, although it requires attention, time and patience. If youdecided to make katyk, the recipe for cooking requires the purchase of a liter of homemade milk from a trusted breeder. It must be boiled for five minutes on the smallest fire. The pan is removed, the milk is cooled to body temperature and poured into a washed (can be sterilized) jar. The "hotness" of milk should be monitored especially carefully. If it is too hot, the sourdough will boil; if it is too cold, it will ferment much more slowly. Another mandatory condition: only glass, porcelain, ceramics, no plastic or metal! Two large spoons of yesterday's katyk are put into the milk, then the contents of the jar are stirred. Again, attention: the spoon (or spatula) must be wooden. The neck is loosely covered, the container is wrapped and left alone for several hours. In the heat, six is enough; in winter, the process will drag on for ten hours. You can check whether your katyk is ready by gently and smoothly shaking the jar. If the mass does not "flop" - it's time to eat or hide in the refrigerator.

Katyk in the oven

It is not always possible to keep track of the uniformity of heating and the temperature on the stove. Therefore, when preparing katyk at home, you can use the oven. It is heated to ninety degrees, the milk is boiled on a burner and placed in the oven. So it will slowly melt until it loses up to a third of the water. When the milk evaporates and cools down, the katyk sourdough starter is laid. If it is thick (quite “old”, infused), then it should be stirred until smooth before pouring. Farthereverything is according to the previous plan: for several hours the wrapped container is kept warm, and when the katyk thickens, it is removed into the coolness. If, by the way, the latter is not done in time, he may turn sour.

If there is no matching starter

When making katyk, the recipe calls for katyk fermentation. However, it is unlikely that you will be able to find the right starter. In this case, use one of the three options.

1. Pour half a glass of thick sour cream into a liter of very fresh (ideally fresh) milk and leave it warm for a day, without covering it with anything. A glass of curdled milk obtained will become your sourdough.
2. Pour half a glass of ordinary curdled milk into boiled milk and put a chopped cherry branch right with the leaves.
3. Instead of sourdough, half a glass of ordinary sour cream is poured in, in which a spoonful of cabbage brine is stirred. The first katyk will have a characteristic aftertaste, but it can become a starter for the next one. After 3-4 fermentations, the taste will disappear, and you will get a high-quality katyk base.

Try making katyk! What it is and how to make it yourself, we have already told, and you will surely appreciate the taste nuances. And if your admiration is shared by friends and relatives, you will gift them with home-made sourdough.