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Okra
May 26, 2009 12:55:02 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 26, 2009 12:55:02 GMT
Who eats it regularly? What do you do with it?
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Okra
May 26, 2009 12:58:58 GMT
Post by pookie on May 26, 2009 12:58:58 GMT
I bought it frozen once to try and it just went to mush . Probably cooked it wrong. Never wanted to try again.
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Okra
May 26, 2009 13:28:28 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on May 26, 2009 13:28:28 GMT
I cook it every time I get my hands on it ~~ not easy around here. I grew some last year. It likes lots of sun, heat, and water. Pookie, boiled okra is pretty limp and has that "slime" that some people object to and some people (me ) like. If you ever get it again, try this: using oil or a butter&oil combo, gently fry the whole small or cut-up okra. As they cook, they'll begin to throw off the slime -- first getting wet, then looking white, and finally becoming "dry". If they're nice young tender okra, they'll still be bright green at the end of cooking. Cooked as above, they could then be put into gumbo or other soup towards the end of the soup's cooking time. You can also remove them from the skillet in which they were cooked -- the oil doesn't absorb into them! -- and fry some chopped onions quite well, then add chopped tomatoes and fry them until they're dry. Add the okra back into the other ingredients, along with any herb(s) you'd like to use plus salt & pepper. Toss and heat it through. This is good served cold or at room temperature. That's how my grandmother made them.
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Okra
May 26, 2009 13:40:06 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 26, 2009 13:40:06 GMT
Okra is a very tricky vegetable. I rarely use it, even though I like it a lot in certain dishes. It is very true that it is quite unappealing when it is overcooked.
The French word for okra is 'gombo' - a word derived from the Angolan Bantu language. The English word for okra is derived from the Nigerian Igbo language.
Okra arrived in Europe through the Spanish Moors coming up from Morocco, and it arrived in the Americas with the slaves.
Most of the okra that one finds in European supermarkets (usually just the exotic or semi-exotic ones) is imported from either Brazil or Senegal.
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Okra
May 26, 2009 14:04:12 GMT
Post by pookie on May 26, 2009 14:04:12 GMT
Bixa I might have to have another go at them with that recipe. I like just about every vegetable but this one has me undecided.I don't often see them fresh ,mainly frozen.
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Okra
May 26, 2009 17:35:32 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 26, 2009 17:35:32 GMT
My mom makes the most divine Okra curry, and I also like the sliminess of it too. It's one of my favorite dishes.
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Okra
May 26, 2009 18:01:31 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 26, 2009 18:01:31 GMT
When I was doing my Wiki stuff, I did see that okra had become very popular in India and Pakistan. Of course my former Pakistani colleague always referred to them by that name "ladyfingers."
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Okra
May 26, 2009 19:14:18 GMT
Post by auntieannie on May 26, 2009 19:14:18 GMT
bhindi/okra/ladies'fingers bhaji.... or as a dry curry, sauteed in the pan with spices.
I was told that you should not cook them for very long. That they get slimy when they've been cooked too long. Although the Greeks (Turkish too, I suppose ;-)) seem to havea slimy okra dish.
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Okra
May 26, 2009 19:26:50 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 26, 2009 19:26:50 GMT
The famous gumbo of the U.S. Deep South and particularly New Orleans is particularly slimy due to the okra, and that's the way we love it.
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Okra
May 26, 2009 19:35:22 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on May 26, 2009 19:35:22 GMT
Oh, don't listen to him! It's thick, but not slimy. If anyone wants a gumbo recipe, I'll post one or two in The Galley. Lemme know.
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Okra
May 26, 2009 19:43:05 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 26, 2009 19:43:05 GMT
Not slimy? Then why do they sell "gumbo filé" (sassafras powder) to make it even slimier if the okra has not done the trick. Slimy is good.
I'm sure I wouldn't want to eat your dry, crunchy, dusty gumbo, Bixa.
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Okra
May 26, 2009 20:23:40 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on May 26, 2009 20:23:40 GMT
*pokes Kerouac in eye with dried okra pod*
Filé is also to thicken it and impart some flavor. I will admit that the essential texture of okra is there in the gumbo, but saying that gumbo is slimy makes it sound nasty.
If I were the sort of person to brag, I would point out that my gumbo was once known as the best gumbo uptown (N.O.), but god forbid you should have to choke any of it down.
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Okra
May 26, 2009 20:24:53 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 26, 2009 20:24:53 GMT
Pouahhhh!!! No way!
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Okra
May 27, 2009 3:29:16 GMT
Post by hwinpp on May 27, 2009 3:29:16 GMT
As Deyana and AA have said, ladyfingers ( ) are best in a curry. Choose young, firm ones, the test is to finger the tip. If it breaks off it's still young and crunchy. Don't overcook, use whole. I find it incredibly difficult finding it in Cambodia, have to go to a shop supplying the Indian restaurants.
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Okra
May 27, 2009 3:33:37 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on May 27, 2009 3:33:37 GMT
HW, it should grow beautifully in that climate. Can you get seeds? I had to bring my seeds here from the US, but it's so worth it!
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Okra
May 27, 2009 11:08:57 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 27, 2009 11:08:57 GMT
As Deyana and AA have said, ladyfingers ( ) are best in a curry. Choose young, firm ones, the test is to finger the tip. If it breaks off it's still young and crunchy. Don't overcook, use whole. . That sounds kind of sexy! ;D
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Okra
May 27, 2009 11:48:47 GMT
Post by pookie on May 27, 2009 11:48:47 GMT
I say food porn ;D
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Okra
May 27, 2009 11:55:13 GMT
Post by pookie on May 27, 2009 11:55:13 GMT
Bixa....Please post recipes of gumbo, no idea what it is ,we love to try new food. I don't like slimey, won't like , can't like, just don't like slimey.
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Okra
May 27, 2009 16:44:06 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on May 27, 2009 16:44:06 GMT
I'll be happy to, Pookie. Lemme gather my thoughts & write something down & you'll have something lovely & non-slimy to serve your family.
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Okra
May 27, 2009 16:56:37 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 27, 2009 16:56:37 GMT
Bixa's gumbo is icky, I just know it is.
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Okra
May 27, 2009 18:29:16 GMT
Post by auntieannie on May 27, 2009 18:29:16 GMT
child.
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Okra
May 27, 2009 20:11:01 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on May 27, 2009 20:11:01 GMT
Don't worry, Annie. I know he is secretly yearning for my recipe. That's why I am going to write it with okra exudate ("slime", if you will) which will then have to be held over a heat source to read. Then everyone will come back & say how great the gumbo is, but he won't have the recipe.
Don't tell.
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Okra
May 28, 2009 3:53:06 GMT
Post by hwinpp on May 28, 2009 3:53:06 GMT
Hadn't thought of the seed option, will see.
I've had gumbo here but it wasn't really slimy.
I've been intrigued by southern/ Cajun cooking since I first read about 'blackened red fish' lots of years ago in Time magazine.
Anyway, the place that has gumbo also has jambalaya but I've not had it yet.
Back to okra, you all have dirty minds. It's just a sweet innocent vegetable!
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Okra
Jun 3, 2009 16:06:37 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 3, 2009 16:06:37 GMT
A further note on okra, for those who like its innocent, clean "slime" ~~
A common way to eat it in my family is to boil small, tender okra in just a little salted water, then dress it with olive oil, vinegar, & black pepper. It's divine!
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Okra
Jun 3, 2009 16:45:59 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2009 16:45:59 GMT
The slime of okra would probably make them a good casing for organic suppositories.
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Okra
Jun 3, 2009 21:57:27 GMT
Post by lagatta on Jun 3, 2009 21:57:27 GMT
My friends from the Levant (Lebanon - Syria - Israel - Palestine area) love gombo/okra, and cook it in the Turkish way, with tomatoes, onions, sometimes with ground lamb to make a main dish. Odd, I don't usually like slimy things (hate raw oysters and raw eggs, much as I like both of those prepared otherwise) but I do like okra, especially the wee tender ones.
I buy it either frozen or jarred from Turkey - they put it up in a delicate way. The so-called "fresh" okra arrives on the market hard and a bit dried out.
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Okra
Jun 4, 2009 3:09:18 GMT
Post by hwinpp on Jun 4, 2009 3:09:18 GMT
I had okra the other day for dinner. My girlfriend doesn't really know how to prepare (they were young and still small but she still cut them lengthwise) it but she knows I like it so she bought some at the market. She also got some young watermelons (really young, just about 2 inches in diameter), small round green aubergines and a regional bean type (looks nothing like beans). Then she prepared the shrimp paste (kapi, similar to balacan and trasi from Malaysia and Indonesia) dip. It looked somewhat like in the picture except we didn't have the mini- mackerel but a different, bigger fish. The beans are on the right (with the frilly edges) and on the left (already cooked with a drop of oil to give it a sheen, it's not milk):
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Okra
Jun 4, 2009 15:57:27 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 4, 2009 15:57:27 GMT
Hey Pookie and Annie and anyone else interested ~~ I've posted a gumbo recipe on the requested recipes thread in The Galley -- Reply #15. It can also be found in the Links to Any Port Recipes under Soups.
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Okra
Jun 4, 2009 19:22:40 GMT
Post by auntieannie on Jun 4, 2009 19:22:40 GMT
thank youuuuu!
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Okra
Jun 4, 2009 23:08:15 GMT
Post by Don Cuevas on Jun 4, 2009 23:08:15 GMT
Don't worry, Annie. I know he is secretly yearning for my recipe. That's why I am going to write it with okra exudate ("slime", if you will) which will then have to be held over a heat source to read. Then everyone will come back & say how great the gumbo is, but he won't have the recipe. Don't tell. A recipe for Snail Gumbo would just about cover all bases for " slimy", wouldn't it? What about Menudo made with okra? Now there's an undiscovered textural sensation.
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