Cooking NOMA At Home!
The world’s greatest restaurant, NOMA in Copenhagen, has begun to sell products that you can buy at home, and I bought this bottle of “smoked mushroom garum” – which the restaurant provides dozens of recipes to use it for – and in this case it was a “Saffron Mushroom Risotto!”
It was so easy to pull the recipe from their online store, and I gathered all of the ingredients to see what I could do with this “garum” – which means “fermented sauce.”
Here are the ingredients for a “Saffron Mushroom Risotto!”
25g Smoked Mushroom Garum, divided
200g button mushrooms, thinly sliced about 4mm 15g olive oil, divided
15g butter
1 yellow onion, small dice
120g Arborio rice
10-15 threads of saffron
600mL water
2 handfuls of Parmigiano, grated
10g green onions or chervil
1/2 lemon, zested
Chili oil to taste
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Place a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add 10g of oil into the pan and tilt to evenly coat the bottom. (Let the pan come to temperature – this will allow for even browning). When the oil begins to shimmer, arrange the mushrooms in a single layer and cook, undisturbed, until bottom sides are evenly browned, about 3 minutes.
Here’s how it looked when I added the smoked mushroom garum:
Flip the pieces and repeat on the other side. Add butter and 5ml of smoked mushroom garum. Toss to melt the butter. Remove mushrooms and their liquid to a bowl; set aside.
Place a large sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add just enough olive oil to just cover the surface of the pan. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the onions and sauté until golden brown for about 2-3 minutes.
Add the rice and stir until rice is coated in oil and pale, golden in color, about 2 minutes.
Mix the remaining garum and water to make an ‘instant mushroom stock.’ I used chicken stock for some added flavor. Add 400ml of the ‘instant stock’ and saffron into the pan. Using a wooden spoon, stir constantly until the stock is fully absorbed.
Continue adding stock 100 ml at a time, stirring until the liquid is absorbed. Reserve the last 100 ml of stock. At this point, the rice should be perfectly al dente. (Taste the rice to check how far you are in the cooking process).
Now the fun part – watch as I shave the cheese into the rice:
As you saw, once the risotto was al dente, I shaved approximately one handful of Parmigiano. Fold in the cheese, add 50ml of stock, followed by the remaining cheese. Do one final taste test. If more liquid is required, add the remaining stock. If you’re looking for a richer flavor, add a few drops of garum directly into the pan.
*Note: If you run out of stock, add water to the rice to achieve a uniform consistency. The risotto should be loose enough to flatten out in a plate but not soupy or mushy.
Remove from heat. Stir in reserved mushrooms and their liquid. Serve in flat bowls and garnish with chopped green onions or chervil, lemon zest, freshly cracked pepper, and drizzles of olive oil and chili oil.
Here it is and it was delicious!
The Risotto had a very rich, smoky mushroom flavor, and the saffron added just the right touch of exotic spice.
I served this risotto with a grilled chicken thigh and some broccoli rabe with garlic – a really terrific meal!
For those unfamiliar with NOMA, it was named the best restaurant in the world many times over the past decade – and the Chef is a genius at molecular food:
This is his “Sea Urchin Pie” – oh, and he also made his Dishwasher a co-owner of the restaurant!
See that inspiring story here:
I love to eat at unique restaurants, and I love to try and replicate some of their dishes as well…like this one from iconic Napa valley restaurant The French Laundry:
I spent three days making this sous vide Lobster dish – click here to see the entire recipe!
During my “52 In 22” cooking challenge, I made everything from vegan eggplant rollups to a “Duck Pancetta Mustard” pie:
How did it turn out?
Click here for the recipe and the result!
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Categories: 52 In 22!, Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Chef memoirs, Cookbooks, Eat This!, Fine Dining, Food, Food Pictures, Food Porn, Food Travel, Recipes, Restaurants, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
I had no idea that you could buy products from NOMA. This risotto looks mouth-watering.
They just began doing this….they aren’t cheap, but they arrive promptly and are very good! I will make more of this Risotto tomorrow because it is so good and last for a few days!
I cannot even to begin to imagine the aroma of this dish when cooking it, and the flavor infusion when eating it
Beth, infusion is the perfect word…the mushroom garum really did pack a strong umami flavor that was delicious not overpowering, and the saffron was held in check so it enhanced and didn’t overwhelm either! Great points!
Noma brand sauce and Saffron sounds like an expensive meal, John. It looks delicious though!
(Is there anything different about ‘Kosher’ Salt? I haven’t seen that sold here)
Best wishes, Pete.
I didn’t even know but here’s what I found: kosher salt is made solely of sodium chloride. It usually doesn’t contain any trace minerals, iodine, or anti-clumping or anti-caking agents. Conversely, iodized table salt is fortified with iodine, an essential mineral that plays a key role in thyroid health and hormone production – as for the dish, yes it was not cheap but fun to make once!
Many thanks for explaining that, John.