Okra

Thomas, I'm in a cranky mood tonight I guess -- note my graceless comment to Jo Anne -- but from time to time okra irritates me -- it seems to have a slimy quality that is quite off putting. Any idea of how to avoid that mouth feel?

Regards, Bob

Thomas, I'm in a cranky mood tonight I guess -- note my graceless comment to Jo Anne -- but from time to time okra irritates me -- it seems to have a slimy quality that is quite off putting. Any idea of how to avoid that mouth feel?

Regards, Bob

The best defense against the slime, if a defense is needed, is to use okra as a filler for omelets. If the omelets are not overcooked, the egg slime and okra slime will be indistinguishable...that in itself makes me wonder why people indict okra for slime but not eggs.

I suppose you can run cut okra under water and wash out the slime, but never having done that I can't say whether or not it intrudes on the okra taste.

The other way is to cook the okra to within an inch of it petrifying...but then, you might as well eat something else.


Incidentally, I didn't think your post to JoAnn was graceless. For the past twenty years I have gotten away with cooking without salt--when you come right down to it, there's enough sodium in most foods to keep us alive and salt, as far as I am concerned, intrudes on the natural tastes of foods and spices. Maybe one or two dishes will I add salt.

Thomas, I'm in a cranky mood tonight I guess -- note my graceless comment to Jo Anne -- but from time to time okra irritates me -- it seems to have a slimy quality that is quite off putting. Any idea of how to avoid that mouth feel?

Regards, Bob

Water is the enemy. Dry-cooking will minimize the mucilage.

[Robin Garr]

So far, the "I don't like okra" crowd has been rather quiet. I know that Robin is one of them...

You must have been listening to me before you had your coffee! I said I'm just fine with okra, but prefer preparations that ameliorate the slime. Fried okra, good. Okra in gumbo, great! (Contrary to Bucko's assertion, I'd note that in well-made gumbo the okra has been de-slimed through browning before it becomes part of the soup.) A similar, simpler Acadian dish, okra browned with tomatoes, green peppers and onions and Cajun spice, is also a delight.

I haven't ruled out your okra omelet, but gently dissent from your suggestion that either well-made eggs OR well-made okra need to be slimy. I like my omelets fluffy and moist, but if you're getting slime, you've got uncooked egg whites in your dish, and that's not good eats.

So far, the "I don't like okra" crowd has been rather quiet. I know that Robin is one of them...

You must have been listening to me before you had your coffee! I said I'm just fine with okra, but prefer preparations that ameliorate the slime. Fried okra, good. Okra in gumbo, great! (Contrary to Bucko's assertion, I'd note that in well-made gumbo the okra has been de-slimed through browning before it becomes part of the soup.) A similar, simpler Acadian dish, okra browned with tomatoes, green peppers and onions and Cajun spice, is also a delight.

I haven't ruled out your okra omelet, but gently dissent from your suggestion that either well-made eggs OR well-made okra need to be slimy. I like my omelets fluffy and moist, but if you're getting slime, you've got uncooked egg whites in your dish, and that's not good eats.

I must have misheard you, Robin. Or maybe I was drunk with spitting samples And yes, it took all day to get that espresso.

Just like one person's rare steak is another person's squirmy steer, one person's slime must be another person's uncooked...I like my eggs, with fluff, but also just this side of the runny side of the street--"grab your yoke and get your whites; leave your okra in the middle; life would be so sweet, on the slimy side of the street."

[Robin Garr]

"grab your yoke and get your whites; leave your okra in the middle; life would be so sweet, on the slimy side of the street."

"Let a slime be your umbrella ... "

"Water is the enemy. Dry-cooking will minimize the mucilage."

Thanks, Stuart. Makes sense. Regards, Bob

Thanks, Thomas. I've always cooked eggs on a very low heat and never get sliminess with them -- except with raw eggs, of course.

Regards, Bob

Thanks, Thomas. I've always cooked eggs on a very low heat and never get sliminess with them -- except with raw eggs, of course.

Regards, Bob

Bob,

My sunny side up eggs are almost chirping when I dig in...gives me something to do with the bread.

Water is the enemy. Dry-cooking will minimize the mucilage.

Stu, would you care to explain what you mean by dry cooking? Ok, I understand it means cooking without water, but doesn't that harm the cookware?

[Robin Garr]

My sunny side up eggs are almost chirping when I dig in...gives me something to do with the bread.

I wonder if we do have a different definition for "slime," Thomas.

I love my sunny-side-ups about the same as you do, I think: Yolks still liquid so they'll run into my toast (or better yet, hash browns). I ask only that the yolk be hot so it's starting to thicken just a bit.

What I don't like is raw white glistening around the yolk, a condition that can usually be ameliorated by getting the (low) heat just right and maybe basting with a little hot butter.

Pull-dated fresh free-range eggs are also mandatory, and happily now widely available. Without even getting into the humaneness issues (for chickens and for egg-factory workers), industrial battery eggs just plain aren't good.

Bob, "frying" would be one example of dry cooking.

I wonder if we do have a different definition for "slime," Thomas.

Good point. To me, slime is what the outside of a slug is like. The stuff can't even be washed away with plain water. I've never had that problem with okra. In fact, the ooze of okra reminds me of egg yolk and of the feel of biting into caviar. But then, I could be rationalizing because I like okra; but then, those who don't like okra ooze could be rationalizing.

Maybe a poll could be taken: how many don't like okra for its slime; how many like runny eggs; how many like caviar...how many are being inconsistent.

"makes me wonder why people indict okra for slime but not eggs."

I've been thinking about your comment off and on today, Thomas, and have a personal opinion. The slime in okra is really a mouth feel impression -- it's the contrast between the crunch and the slime in okra that I don't care for.

In other foods, eggs, for example, I'm not aware of that sort of contrast -- nor in lots of other similar foods -- raw oysters and clams, sea cucumbers, etc.

I tried Stuart's suggestion tonight of dry cooking, and I got that great okra taste with very pleasant mouth feel. Thanks for posting -- you've improved my pleasure in eating okra, that's for sure.

Regards, Bob

Bob, "frying" would be one example of dry cooking.

What do you use--dry oil???

I've never added water to cook okra in any form. Of course, I don't boil the stuff.

Yes, wet oil tends to sizzle and splatter.

I suppose you can run cut okra under water and wash out the slime, but never having done that I can't say whether or not it intrudes on the okra taste.

The other way is to cook the okra to within an inch of it petrifying...but then, you might as well eat something else.

As one born and reared in the Deep South, I was exposed to okra in all its many guises, and I can say unequivocably that no amount of water will "wash out the slime". Slicing thin, rolling in a bit of cornmeal and frying in a hot iron skillet in some bacon grease or peanut oil until browned, and served up with a plate of purple-hulled crowder peas, fresh picked sweet corn, buttermilk cornbread, and fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes and cukes is as close to heaven as I can imagine. And is a large part of how I built my ample physique!

On the flip side, the mucilage in okra is a well-known thickening agent in gumbos and Brunswick stew, so the slime isn't totally unwelcome.

I suppose you can run cut okra under water and wash out the slime, but never having done that I can't say whether or not it intrudes on the okra taste.

The other way is to cook the okra to within an inch of it petrifying...but then, you might as well eat something else.

As one born and reared in the Deep South, I was exposed to okra in all its many guises, and I can say unequivocably that no amount of water will "wash out the slime". Slicing thin, rolling in a bit of cornmeal and frying in a hot iron skillet in some bacon grease or peanut oil until browned, and served up with a plate of purple-hulled crowder peas, fresh picked sweet corn, buttermilk cornbread, and fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes and cukes is as close to heaven as I can imagine. And is a large part of how I built my ample physique!

On the flip side, the mucilage in okra is a well-known thickening agent in gumbos and Brunswick stew, so the slime isn't totally unwelcome.

Greens, man: where's the greens? Collards, mustard greens, heck, even turnip greens. But you gotta have greens to get that close to heaven, Robert (and maybe a little pot likker to warm up and soften the cold cornbread on a cold winter night?).

Jo Ann, I've read your posts with great pleasure, but your tagline leaves out a very important caveat that appears in Farrar Capon's excellent article in the New York Times in 1982

Thank you Bob. I have corrected my tagline for those who are familiar and require literary exactitude in our plagiarisms. Yet, I have maintained that portion of the quote that sings to me and perfectly reflects my sentiment about salt. I love and highly recommend the stuff, others' personal preferences or medical reasons notwithstanding.

I didn't find your comment graceless.

I suppose you can run cut okra under water and wash out the slime, but never having done that I can't say whether or not it intrudes on the okra taste.

Water will only make a bad situation worse, in this instance. A bit of acid in the form of vinegar or lemon juice will usually do the trick.

Bob, "frying" would be one example of dry cooking.

Thanks Stu, I guess I wasn't being literal enough in my imagination. Also, I suppose I was too lazy to "look it up". The phrase engendered a mental picture of a skillet of okra with no liquid in the skillet. About okra, I can eat it almost anyway it can be fixed, but I would prefer it cornmeal breaded and fried. Funny thing, just this last weekend we had a mess of it cooked with tomatoes, onions, and fresh off the cob sweetcorn. Yum!

...and the recent hot spell in the Finger Lakes (97F yesterday) has given my twenty-five okra seedlings a five-inch boost. We are on our way to okravintage 2007. I can smell the gumbo of winter already.

Thomas,

25 Okra plants? That should produce enough okra for...say.. a small town? You must really like okra. Do your neighbors hide from you as the end of summer gets closer?

My dad used to overplant zucchini when my brother & I were kids. By the end of summer (every summer) we were hauling it out of the garden in 5 gallon buckets and leaving them on neighbors front doorsteps..unasked for, since they wouldn't come to the door anymore when he drove up.

When I think back to those days.... Of course, when Harvest Time rolled around? It became Dad's garden. The rest of the time it was our garden to hoe, weed, water etc...

Richard

Thomas,

25 Okra plants? That should produce enough okra for...say.. a small town? You must really like okra. Do your neighbors hide from you as the end of summer gets closer?

My dad used to overplant zucchini when my brother & I were kids. By the end of summer (every summer) we were hauling it out of the garden in 5 gallon buckets and leaving them on neighbors front doorsteps..unasked for, since they wouldn't come to the door anymore when he drove up.

When I think back to those days.... Of course, when Harvest Time rolled around? It became Dad's garden. The rest of the time it was our garden to hoe, weed, water etc...

Richard

Richard,

For that very reason I grow zucchini only for the flowers, which are marvelous battered and sauteed.

At okra harvest time I slice and saute okra with jalepenos and garlic--I add a little stock and wine and let it cook down. I put it into freezer bags so that I have ready-made okra ingredients for my winter gumbos and stews. It's also fantastic as a base for chowder.

Plus, in this climate you have to have more in the ground than you need. Both growing season and harvest can be cut short without warning.

I'll give zucchini away anytime--okra has to be pried from my hands...

Another use for zucchini is as soft ball bats--but the soft ball has to be really, really soft.

Just 25 plants??! I can remember many summers when my dad would plant a 100 foot row of it, a variety that we had sorta refined over 30 years or so to have a very heavy yield, with very large pods that remained tender longer and tasted so fine that many friends & neighbors asked for some throughout the season. By about mid-July, we would be cutting a 5-gallon bucket full every 3 days. But we canned and later froze much of it for wintertime feasts.