Kohlrabi

[eatingwitheddie]

While walking through the markets of NY's Chinatown I saw lots of wonderful kohlrabi piled high.

Anyone want to share favorite recipes or experiences? Cold dishes? Pickles?

[jwagnerdsm]

We just slice it into sticks and sprinkle with a little rice wine vingegar and some sea salt. Kids love it.

[BettyK]

I just discovered this wonderful vegetable this year. I made some meatballs with grated kohlrabi, carrots, dried shrimp and rice flour - Delicious.

[tsquare]

I didn't order it - but the restaurant I went to last night had it as soup with creamed crab.

(Why is this is in the China thread - more a general cooking thread?)

[boaziko]

Love it fresh, small, young, just peeled and sliced. (I liked this veggie since childhood, part of it because its name (exactly the same) in Hebrew translates as "the Rabbi's voice"

[eatingwitheddie]

Why is this is in the China thread - more a general cooking thread?

It's here because it is frequently used in Chinese cooking and it prominently displayed and sold in Chinese vegetable markets.

[eatingwitheddie]

Love it fresh, small, young, just peeled and sliced. (I liked this veggie since childhood, part of it because its name (exactly the same) in Hebrew translates as "the Rabbi's voice"

And Kohlrabi is German for "turnip-radish".

[Ruth]

I must confess that I have always found kohlrabi to be pretty bland and tasteless. Is there any way to give it some zip?

[mudbug]

I must confess that I have always found kohlrabi to be pretty bland and tasteless. Is there any way to give it some zip?

Slice them thin and then squeeze fresh lemon juice with sprinkle of salt. Deelish.

Not too much different than the rice vinegar and salt principle advised above.

[Dejah]

Peeled, sliced. stir-fried with leftover siu yook with the now non crispy skin!

I like kohlrabi for the crunch and the sweetness. Sliced and cooked with pork broth and thin slices of lean pork makes a wonderfully light soup.

[Ben Hong]

One of my favourite soups is kohlrabi. Pork neck bones, juilenned kohlrabi, a slice of chung choy, a few dried shrimp, mmm mmm.

Stirfried, it is great too. My mother, and now me, always use diced kohlrabi and green peas in our havest time "yau fan".

[moosnsqrl]

I've never gotten around to cooking it. I always have good intentions but, before the pan gets hot, the kohlrabi has always disappeared. I'm a purist though. S&P, hold the acid.

BTW, I knew the German/English translation but had never heard the Hebrew one before. That's what I love about eGulleteers.

[hzrt8w]

I have seen them in the Asian grocery market before. Is there a Chinese name (or translation) for this vegetable?

[Dejah]

Yeh choi gaw

[Tepee]

I don't think I've come across this vegetable before. Learning something new everyday. Is it similar to jicama?

[Pan]

I don't think I've come across this vegetable before. Learning something new everyday. Is it similar to jicama?

←

Not in the slightest. It's a green, leafy vegetable with a head, and it's related to cabbage:

Results for a Yahoo! image search for kohlrabi.

The jicama is apparently a bean plant whose taproot is eaten, but the rest of which is highly toxic. Thanks for stimulating me to do this research on jicama, because I had no idea that it was a bean plant!!

[Tepee]

Thanks, Michael. I guess, from the pics, the bulb at the bottom looked similar to me.

[Shiewie]

TP - think it's also known as Dai Tau Choy (literally transalted as big head vegetable). We get the dried preserved versions here but not fresh ones.

[Metal Spice]

I LOVE kohlrabi! But the only way I've ever eaten it is sliced & sprinkled with salt. And I'm actually quite happy eating it that way. I've loved it since I was a kid.

[mudbug]

I don't think I've come across this vegetable before. Learning something new everyday. Is it similar to jicama?

If you were blindfolded and tried kohlrabi, you'd find the texture in raw form is very firm and crunchy, closest to that of a carrot. The flavor is distantly reminiscent of the following: mild turnip, mild radish, celery, parsley, cabbage... Has a definite "crunch factor" when raw that is very satisfying.

[Big Bunny]

In her vegetarian cookbook, Florence Lin gives a recipe for soy sauce pickles.

Essentially, thin slices of a crisp vegetable are sprinkled with sugar and salt, then allowed to "weep." These are then kept in soy sauce (do not rinse.)

Kohlrabi done this way is wonderful with jook and stays crisp "forever".

BB