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Post by mockchoc on Feb 11, 2009 6:32:44 GMT
On my recent trip to Sydney China town I found jiacama for sale and swiftly grabbed a couple of them.
I have only had them once before and liked the juicy crunch to them but only ate them as is.
What do you like to do with them? They are almost unheard of here.
I read they are good in salads.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 11, 2009 6:36:32 GMT
They are really common here, & quite good when they're fresh. They are more commonly known as jicama.
Here they are peeled, cut up, & sprinkled with lime juice and cayenne power or hot sauce.
They are good in salads, too, including fruit salad. One of the things I do with them is use them as a substitute for water chestnuts in stir-fries.
Be sure to peel them very thoroughly to get all the pithy part off.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2009 6:37:13 GMT
I have never heard that name so I had to look it up ('jicama' it turns out to be)  A Healthful, delicious Mexican Snack.The leaves and ripe pods of the jicama, a climbing legume, are not appetizing. This is good, though, since they are not edible. The edible treasure lies below the ground; it is the plant’s tuberous root.
From ancient times, people in Mexico have consumed the jicama. Its name, which comes from the Nahuatl language, means “what is tasted.” And just seeing a picture of the popular Mexican snack made of raw jicama slices seasoned with lemon juice, salt, and powdered piquin pepper or cayenne pepper can make your mouth water.
What does jicama taste like? Some say its flavor lies between that of an apple and that of a water chestnut. Originating in Mexico and Central America, the jicama plant has traveled to countries as far away as the Philippines, China, and even Nigeria. Today it is cultivated in many lands, where it is prepared in various ways —grilled, pickled, used in salads, boiled in soups.
In Oriental cooking, jicama serves as a substitute for water chestnuts. An appreciated quality of this vegetable is that it remains crisp even after cooking. Especially is this true of the milk jicama, which produces a milky juice, unlike the water jicama. Interestingly, both types can grow from the same seed. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2009 6:41:05 GMT
I think that last part about two types of jicama growing from the same seed is kind of pervy.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 11, 2009 6:41:11 GMT
I thought I'd invented the water chestnut use!!!
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 11, 2009 6:45:10 GMT
It's an amazing thing to grow. I had one that showed signs of green top growth, so I planted it. It was just small-normal size. It was in a pot for a while, but when I put it in the ground it took off like jack's beanstalk & twined strongly around an iron fence. It's quite pretty, with deep blue legume flowers. Eventually the root jicama got so large, it heaved itself out of the ground.
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Post by mockchoc on Feb 11, 2009 6:54:07 GMT
Sorry, spelling error there. Yes Jicama.. but apparently pronounced HIH-kuh-ma.
I like the sounds of the plant bixa!
Strangely bixa I thought when I described it to a friend here as a cross between apple and water chestnut I was being the first but it's online..
Kerouac = bad boy.
I'm making a stir fry tonight with sea scallops, garlic, abalone sauce from my China town trip, a little chicken, snow peas, oyster mushrooms and rice.
Guess I could throw in a little jicama to try it out.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 11, 2009 6:57:42 GMT
And speaking of snow peas .............
another Mexican vegetable can stand in for them. If you live where chayote (mirliton in Louisiana) is easily available, try turning it into snow peas. Peel it, slice it down the middle lengthwise, then cut each half into slices that will resemble snow pea pods. Use it in stir fry. In crunch & taste, it will quite resemble the expensive, not always available mange tout.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 26, 2009 15:35:50 GMT
Jícama are in season here right now. They're being sold all over with their vine tops still attached to show freshness. I bought a bunch Thursday for 10 pesos, and immediately gave some of them away because there were so many.
Last night I stumbled across a reference to jícama. Apparently, in Singapore/Malaysia it is knows as bangkuang.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Oct 26, 2009 18:42:09 GMT
"Jicaletas" are sold here for a snack. They are sliced rounds of jícama, speared on a stick, and liberally coated with chile powder. (I've never had one.)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2009 18:44:19 GMT
I will have to see if there are any in the Chinese supermarkets or the exotic section of the hypermarkets, because they intrigue me.
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Post by hwinpp on Oct 27, 2009 5:12:52 GMT
I thought I'd invented the water chestnut use!!! Ha, ha, ha... I have them at the office nearly every day as an in- between snack. Either just peeled and dipped in a salt/chilli mix or pickled with chilli. I think they are used in Chinese dessert 'soups'. |
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Post by lagatta on Oct 28, 2009 14:08:33 GMT
They should be easy to buy in Chinese/Southeast Asian supermarkets. That is where I buy them, even more than in Latin-American markets. I usually just grate them in a salad, for example with carrot.
Guess I should look up their nutritional profile. They are very refreshing.
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