Now, in the dead of night days of winter, is the time of yr I particularly respect pomegranate seeds — or arils, for those who’re feeling fancy. With their vibrant coloration and sweet-tart taste that bursts with each crunchy chew, they shine on top of salads, yogurt, oatmeal and no matter your coronary heart needs. Nature’s sweet, actually.
However I by no means cherished the method of eradicating the seeds, particularly the oft-recommended approach of compacting them out right into a bowl of water in order that the arils sink and the remainder of the detritus floats to the highest. Too messy. I additionally refused to purchase prepackaged seeds, with their further plastic waste and incessantly slimy texture.
Was there a greater method? I made a decision to search out out.
I began my search with a really refined method greatest described as “open a bunch of browser tabs without delay and see what I discover.” Within the age of the web, it may be arduous to know precisely the place anyone piece of recommendation originates, however with that caveat in thoughts, I’ll credit score BBC Good Food and the food blog Café Sucre Farine because the sources that launched me to this methodology.
Merely put: Lower the pomegranate in half via the equator, maintain a half lower facet down in your hand over a dish or bowl and whack it — firmly, confidently — with a picket spoon.
Actually, that’s it. Simply be sure you’re hitting the fruit with the underside of the bowl of the spoon, quite than the sting, which is extra prone to crack it. If you wish to be just a little further, you may roll the fruit round in your counter earlier than slicing to assist loosen the seeds, although I didn’t trouble. In the event you’re anxious about splatters, use the most important, widest bowl you may have. (And don’t do that whereas carrying white.)
It took me a lower than two minutes per half to take away all of the seeds, no prying required. Simply periodically flip the halves over to see the place you’ll want to focus your efforts to make sure all of the seeds come out. Little or no of the membrane or white flesh ended up within the bowl, and no matter did was simply picked out. If I shook the bowl like I used to be tossing a salad, the additional bits rose to the highest or spun to the perimeters, making it even less complicated, no water wanted. After that, it was straightforward to switch the seeds to an hermetic container within the fridge, the place they need to be good for no less than 5 days, although I’ve pushed it longer. If you wish to freeze the seeds for a number of months, be sure you place them in a single layer on a lined baking sheet after which pack them in a bag or container as soon as they’re frozen.
This simplicity of this methodology was in stark distinction to the extra photogenic approach that infiltrated my Instagram feed, wherein you carve out the highest after which attempt to lower the pomegranates into its naturally occurring segments. It took me method longer to do that, as I nonetheless needed to press and pry out the seeds. Plus, surprisingly, it despatched extra seeds onto the ground than the whack-it-over-a-bowl methodology.
As an added bonus, the picket spoon technique is extremely therapeutic. Whack out your frustrations, after which benefit from the fruits of your labor. Win-win.