I've been harboring a weird obsession over the past year and the worst part is I'm not sure where it originated. The obsession is with black food, more specifically, food that is blacker than the darkest hour of the night. Goth food. I follow #blackfood on Instagram, which is a blend of two things — foods that are black hued, and foods that embody African American food culture — so either way it's delicious and inspiring to look at while scrolling. It's the antithesis of the rainbow food movement, which I also have thoroughly embraced, in the form of rainbow grits, rainbow sprinkle madeleines, and a roundup of savory rainbow foods.
Experimenting with black food is simple enough, just order a jar of food-grade activated charcoal on Amazon. I've shared a few dark foods before, like Halloween cookies, and squid ink pasta, and the latest to join that parade are these all-black burger buns. It's interesting to put these on offer at a barbecue and see just who is willing to take the plunge, but happily, a few of my friends have done it and liked them too!
This go round, I paired black buns with black sesame seeds after finding an enormous jar of them at the Asian Market the other day. The buns cradle a Morningstar Farms Grillers patty and my favorite burger accoutrements: ketchup, two slices of cheese, one ring of onion, dill pickle slices, butter lettuce, and a thin slather of mayonnaise on the bottom bun to keep pickle juices from soaking in.
Black Burger Buns
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp active dry yeast
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp warm water (between 105-110 degrees)
- 2 tbsps + 2 tsps vegetable oil
- ⅛ cup sugar
- 1 egg divided
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup food grade activated charcoal powder
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 egg white
- ½ tsp water
- 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a microwavable Pyrex measuring cup, heat the water to 100-110 degrees F. Use a thermometer to be sure, because anything too hot will kill the yeast in the next step.
- Once the water is no more than 110 degrees, add a large pinch of sugar to the water, and the yeast. Stir to mix, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes or until foamy.
- In the meantime, carefully measure out the activated charcoal and the flour into a large mixing bowl.
- Once the yeast is foamy, add the egg, oil, remaining sugar, and salt. Put the wet ingredients into the dry.
- Use a rubber spatula to mix until thoroughly combined.
- Once a dough has formed, turn it out onto a large cutting board that has been dusted with flour. Coat your hands with flour and knead for 3 minutes. Add in more flour if the mixture is overly sticky.
- Divide into four equal parts and form into a round ball.
- Cover and let rest in a warm area for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425.
- After the buns have risen, lightly beat together the water and egg while in a small bowl.
- Brush the water-egg mixture lightly on the tops of the buns, one at a time, adding black sesame seeds immediately after brushing.
- Bake for 12 minutes.
- Cool on wire racks and cut in half crosswise when they are cool enough to handle.
Activated charcoal is extremely messy. It's ground very, very finely, which means that the slightest movement will make if pouf up and float nearly undetected in the air. You'll find it adhered to your cabinet doors two weeks later in what looks like a mold infestation, but it wipes up easily. It also stains porous surfaces, so just so ahead and wear an apron, use cutting boards or newspaper to protect your counter, and be careful when using it. Go slowly and don't have any fans or air circulating devices going in your work area.
A word of caution on foods made with activated charcoal though, don't overdo them. Activated charcoal can bind with medications and nutrients to remove them from your system, and don't eat activated charcoal too closely to your medication time.
Speaking of burgers and meats in general though, I'm really curious how people feel about the Trump administration's devil-may-care approach to meat regulation. Is it making you consider eschewing meat unless you know it's a very local, very ethical farmer? It's a very interesting time for the plant-based meat companies to be surging forward with their offerings and their upgraded science to make the non-meat experience more meaty for those who are worried about what's coming out of the potentially far less regulated farming operations. Tell me what you think about it all.
