46 replies to this topic

[liuzhou]

Well, the kohlrabi soup has been and gone.

I sweated some onion and garlic in butter, with one small, red thai chilli, threw in the chopped kohlrabi and stirred it around a bit. Then a 50:50 mix of milk and chicken stack. S&P. Simmered for around 30 minutes till the kohlrabi was tender. Blitzed and served.

I am delighted with it. A perfect winter soup on a far from perfect, cold, rainy day. This is one experiment that is going on the favourites list.

Again, thanks to everyone who pointed me in this direction.

[huiray]

Clearly this veggie is now becoming something you like to play with. How often would you come across it in the markets around you nowadays?

[liuzhou]

Clearly this veggie is now becoming something you like to play with. How often would you come across it in the markets around you nowadays?

In fact, all my playing has been with the same two samples in the first photo. I only bought them out of curiosity. Very little playing, in fact. One salad; one soup. the salad was fine; the soup was extraordinary.

But I have learned is that they keep well.

I will find them around the markets for the next week or two while they are in season, then they will disappear. Everything is very seasonal here. If they sold well enough this season, they will turn up again next year. If not, I'll never see them again.

Edited by liuzhou, 17 January 2013 - 08:05 AM.

[SobaAddict70]

glad it worked out.

it's definitely on my "to do" list if I see them at USGM.

[Baselerd]

I've had some delicious kohlrabi vichyssoise recently too, I think it's prepared just like any other one.

If you wanna go all out it was served chilled. and poured into a fresh garden salad with uni and grilled squid.

Edited by Baselerd, 17 January 2013 - 02:15 PM.

[rumball]

kohlrabi is from cabbage family. i like it best raw in scandinavian type slaw: 1 sour apple  for 1 kohrabi, thinly sliced with sourcream dressing: 2tb sour cream , 2tb cream, 1tb lemon juice, 1/2 tsp sugar, 2tsp dijon style mustard. can add cumin for unusual but very delish touch. dill/parsley/mint as garnish. it's great with smoked fish or bbq or seafood.

[weinoo]

glad it worked out.

it's definitely on my "to do" list if I see them at USGM.

 

It's all over Chinatown - I'm sure at the market too.

[Katie Meadow]

Love this vegetable! I like it raw, just sliced paper thin and sprinkled with sea salt. Last week I came across a recipe for a root vegetable mash that turned out to be really delicious: it consisted of russet potatoes, kohlrabi, celery root and a very small amount of apple, all riced and blended. The recipe suggested adding some milk or cream, but I used some left over creme fraiche--just a wee bit--and butter and salt and it was awfully yummy, if you like that sort of thing. Adding a little softened goat cheese and garlic might be great too.

 

But I also like it match-sticked and added to various kinds of slaws. And yes, I always see kohlrabi in chinatown, and have bought it several times there. I prefer smaller tenderer bulbs, and they are not always so easy to find; the ones I see in Oakland Chinatown are pretty hefty. The Chinese must stir fry kohlrabi, no? I like the idea of vichyssoise. I could see mixing it with potato and leek for that. Kohlrabi is pretty sweet on its own and doesn't have a lot of body when mashed.

[rumball]

i make potato + celeriac with cream and butter mash in winter, but how do you treat kohlrabi and apple in your mash? you cook them too?

[HungryC]

I've been making salads with it:  cut into matchsticks and mixed with segments of blood orange, dressed with a little olive oil.  Crunchy and refreshing....a twist on the typical Italian orange and fennel salad.

[Katie Meadow]

i make potato + celeriac with cream and butter mash in winter, but how do you treat kohlrabi and apple in your mash? you cook them too?

The recipe I used called for boiling chunks of the potato, celeriac and kohlrabi separately, until soft enough to put through a ricer. The apple was cooked in a little butter and very little water to carmelize, also soft enough to mash or rice with the rest. One whole apple turned out to be a little sweeter than I liked, but a half would have been perfect. I could see eliminating the apple and it would still be great. Just plain mashed potatoes seem to need lots of butter and cream, but this had enough moisture and flavor to need very modest amounts of butter and creme fraiche, which is all to the good as far as my cholesterol is concerned.

[rumball]

i will try this, thank you. i probably will use a sour granny smith and may be someth sharp acidic, dijon mustard and grated horseradish come to mind. this should be nice for the holidays.

[Will]

Fuchsia Dunlop has a recipe in Every Grain of Rice (her new one) that I think is pretty good. Basically, cut into slivers, salt, wait for 10 minutes, rinse and wring out, and then dress. She uses more or less equal parts chinkiang vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil (about 1 tsp each), maybe some chopped garlic, plus a pinch of sugar (~ 1/4 tsp); you can add some chili oil as well, then top with scallion greens. There are some other seasoning variations. I think it would work well dressed like this chayote dish a recipe near us makes, which I think is just sesame oil, salt, sugar, and scallion greens.

[Will]

ps - Here's a picture:

[SobaAddict70]

USGM had purple and green kohlrabi when I was there last, so I bought a couple.  Will use one for dinner tomorrow.  I have a few ideas from reading this thread...

 

S.

[SobaAddict70]

I was going over the contents of my pantry last night thinking of what to make for dinner when I came upon the remainder of the kohlrabi I bought back in March.  well, at least it doesn't turn as easily as say, chives.

 

the appetizer tonight will feature it, along with some dandelion greens in a sort of "bread salad".  it's not real bread salad hence the quotation marks, because the bread isn't salt-free (so therefore the texture will be somewhat different, along with the method of prep.)  liuzhou, if this works out, you can add this to your list of ideas for next time.  you're probably not going to get dandelion greens in China, so I would just sub in whatever bitter greens you happen to have on hand.

 

more later.

[Twyst]

I really like to pickle it and serve a little with really fatty proteins