Dr Strangegoob Or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Scoby

 S.C.O.B.Y

Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast


This was a term I had never heard of until around 6 months ago when Kombucha had begun to be brewed in this house. It's a fairly simple process, breakfast tea is brewed for a couple of hours in a cauldron then allowed to cool. A small glob of bacterial yeast is placed in the batch once it has entirely cooled.

 The cauldron is covered by a cloth and allowed to ferment for a number of weeks. Over this time a Scoby starts to form and the Kombucha gets stronger. Each layer of Scoby takes around 10 days to form on top of each other creating a 'Scoby hotel'. The batch of Kombucha gets replenished and filtered with juice in separate batches but the Scoby always grows. 

After 4 months of this batch continuing to grow to around 10 Scoby layers we decided, let's find a way to eat this thing.


Recipe for Scoby Calamari

It's a recipe that has been referenced a couple of times before in obscure blog posts but not with great success. Fortunately it's a safe substance to it (according to the internet) and entirely vegan so what could go wrong! The following is a step by step process if you wish to follow along at home:


1. Wash your hands before handling the Scoby and lift it out the cauldron. Shake off any excess Kombucha and place on the Cauldron


2. Wipe off spare excess yeast off the main disc. Not really a necessary step but it's a good way to get to know the Scoby.


3. Cut the Scoby into 3cm width strips. It will feel like cutting raw chicken if your Scoby is healthy. 


4. Wash THOROUGHLY in a Colander for around a minute 


5. The table shows the potential process the Scoby can go through (colour coordinated to show what to avoid and go for) . 




Prepared Scoby in the Marinade after being parboiled



Battered and plated up ready for deep frying


The deep frying process. This batch particularly spat up oil




6. Batter each Scoby until golden brown and keep warm while the others are cooking


7. Garnish with sliced lemon, sea salt and chopped parsley and the vegan calamari is ready to serve!
The final product tasted remarkably similar to the real dish in terms of saltiness but also fishy texture of which is difficult to find in vegan cooking. 



References-

  • https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/scobamari-scoby-calamari.210666/
  • http://kombuchahome.com/can-eat-kombucha-scoby/

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