021: Milking Beans with Radicchio Salad

Anything can be milk!

This week, film-maker, food-conoisseur and Very Funny Person, Radicchio Salad is here to teach you how to make bean milk! Yes! Bean milk!

After studying film at Tisch, working at CollegeHumour and writing/directing the short film “MATT”, Radichio Salad, or Ori Tom Ravid “naturally ended up in restaurant work”.

More recently, he’s parlayed that experience into Radicchio Salad, an Instagram, TikTok and YouTube account full of beautifully shot food content and reviews.

Today, you’re getting a glimpse of the magic with Ori’s recipe for bean milk.

That’s Niche: Bean Milk

Ori’s Expertise:

One way or another, I have gained a modest following on my journey to making bean milk – milk from beans. Oat milk is a thing. Nut milk is a thing. And of course, let’s not forget soy. So milk from beans of all kinds is a natural candidate for the next, hottest thing. 

Imagine: you walk into Blue Bottle. You order a cappuccino that takes an hour to make. The cashier asks you whether you want “oat, whole, or bean?”, and you say “bean.” Then, $10 later, the barista frowns as she steams your bean milk and pours it into your Single Origin Ethiopian. You sip the foam as you walk out the door… fighting the wind as you walk up Broadway. Despite this, you smile widely. You have found your milk – or rather,  your milk that has found you.

The following is my latest recipe for bean milk.

STEP ONE: SOAK

Place one cup of your favorite dried beans into a bowl, and soak them with a good amount of water overnight. 

STEP TWO: RINSE

The next day, drain the water and rinse your beans really, really, really well. Their water should be clear. Then drain, and put into a wide, stainless steel pot.

STEP THREE: ADD STUFF

Add 5 cups of water, 60 grams of sugar, a big pinch of salt, and a ¼ tsp of baking soda.

STEP FOUR: SIMMER

Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then cover and turn the heat down to the lowest setting – the idea is to not let any more water evaporate. Leave covered fo 90 minutes, checking periodically to make sure it’s not boiling over. 

STEP FIVE: BLITZ THIS SUCKER!

Blend well.

STEP SIX: STRAIN

Dampen a large piece of fine cheesecloth (larger than you think) and place it over a metal strainer. Place the strainer over a glass or metal bowl and pour the pre-milk into it. You may need to do this in batches until there’s no more liquid left in the pot.

STEP SEVEN: MILK!

Let the milk drain into the bowl on its own for at least several hours, if not overnight*. Once no more liquid comes through, pinch the ends of the cheesecloth and twist, forming a sack. Then… milk! If you’re bored and want to milk it sooner that’s also totally valid. 

STEP EIGHT: POUR

Briefly whisk the liquid to re-incorporate any solids at the bottom of the bowl, then pour into a container of your choosing. Should yield approximately 4 cups of liquid. Maybe 5. 

STEP EIGHT: ENJOY

Congratulations. You have now made bean milk.

I’ve only done this method with black beans so far, but am planning on experimenting with other varieties. Milked black beans have a lightly floral flavor and an umami note that is indeed… interesting. If you add it to coffee, it will amplify its flavor instead of mask it and it’s super trippy. It grows on you. Hey, I didn’t say you would like it. Where are you going? Don’t you want to finish the article?

Bean milk. It’s milk. Made from beans*.

*results may vary

Misc Recs

Unrelated things Ori likes that you might like, too

🥢 Chinese food

Typical Chinese food order: Chicken corn soup, BBQ spare ribs, General Tso’s chicken, honey walnut shrimp, beef and broccoli, veggie lo mein (if you’d like, you can substitute the General Tso’s for Kung Pao and then swap the beef and broccoli for sauteed string beans and the veggie lo mein for house special lo mein).

🇪🇸 Favorite European city

Madrid (estoy aprendiendo Español)

📹 Favorite YouTuber

Jenny Nicholson

🏋️‍♀️ Favorite work out 

I do lift, bro

🍿 Favorite movies

I keep coming back to Cabaret (Fosse 1972) lately. Also: Election (Payne 1999), Jackie Brown (Tarantino 1997), The Matrix (The Wachowskis 1999),  Waiting for Guffman (Guest 1996), Malignant (Wan 2021), many more…

Now go and start the bean milk revolution! And watch for next week’s newsletter, where Chloe Power breaks down what it’s like living and working in Antarctica.