How to cook Okra?

[bicentennial_baby]

Sniffa and I bought some, in our quest for new green veggies...How do you like to make it? :)

[spindrifter]

1. Okra is pretty versatile, mind you,

I don't have that much experience with it, but I do like it.
You can cut it into circles about a quarter inch thick, roll it in corn meal and fry.

You can use it in Indian curries.

There is always gumbo.

[Warpy]

2. Got pigs?

Seriously, folks, my childhood was scarred by institutional stewed okra and tomatoes. I didn't discover that okra had a flavor and a textute that didn't involve slime until much later.

The real trick to using it in soups and stews seems to be a pre cooking to remove the slime. Once you've deslimed it, it's a very nice vegetable. I've even used it in stirfries.

Desliming is basically a drying process, although I've heard some folks boil it. I've baked it or dry fried it in a skillet.

[NMDemDist2]

3. i heard that Warpy

:puke:

now in fairness I've had gumbo that was well done but as a stand alone it definately needs some help

drying would proabably do it for sure

[Warpy]

14. I've found it's the same thing as nopales

Those have to be de spined as well as de slimed, although the local supermarket does de spine them, probably to avoid injury to produce staff.

I've done them in Mexican recipes with mixed success. I need to do more investigation on getting them to please my own palate.

[Stinky The Clown]

19. You don't like snot??????

Sorry ..... I know ..... graphic word, 'snot'.

Actually, I never had okra - never even heard of it - until I got stationed in Charleston, SC in the late 60s.

But now I like it. Not so much plain, but in vegetable soups, crab soup, gumbos. And I also like it fried, but not so fried that the 'snottiness' is gone. A little snot's good for ya. :)

[politicat]

4. Boil into glue. Add sand. Build a wall.

Mucilage masquerading as food. Makes a great mortar.

You wanna EAT THAT???

[bicentennial_baby]

5. what's up with the anti-okra-ness?

it's food! i'm sure it can be made edible, hehe... :D

[politicat]

16. I'm not sure it's food. It's a plant, sure....

As to food, that's obviously debatable. Some people love it, and some ... don't. I can handle it in a few curries (it's called bindi in India) but it does have a texture that's hard to get used to and the slime can get really gooey.

Here are a gazillion recipes (halfway down page)
http://www.physiology.wisc.edu/ravi/okra/

[mike_c]

6. one word....

GUMBO. Oh my god. Ignore any recipes that call for file powder instead of a roux, make your roux DARK, and always use okra. Gumbo-- yah yah in Louisiana fish camps-- is one of the proofs that the universe is a benevolent place and that we belong in it.

on edit-- IMO a good gumbo always has poultry (chicken or duck), smoked sausage (andouille or kielbasa), and shellfish (shrimp at a minimum). Use a rich chicken stock and add clam juice. Did I mention making your roux dark-- this takes courage because the closer you can get to burned without burning it, the more flavorful your gumbo will be.

[Shakespeare]

7. How about gumbo with a side of fried okra?

That's a die-of-happiness meal right there.... :9

[mike_c]

8. now you're talking....

Oh!

[mike_c]

9. and while we're on the topic...

...it wouldn't be dinner without maque choux too....

[Shakespeare]

10. Well, we might as well have boudin, too.

I mean, since we're going all out....

[Lars39]

11. Fried with cornmeal...very crisp and brown.

Double portions,please. :9

[DawgHouse]

18. I thought that was the only way!

:) yum!!

[sazemisery]

12. Several cooking methods

1. Tried and true fried okra. I use a mixture of stoneground yellow and blue or red cornmeal. Yummy

2. Okra, tomato and corn soup. It has more vegetables in it than mentioned (carrots, onion and celery). Worchestershire sauce and Tobasco sauce. salt & pepper.

3. Grilled. Slather with olive oil and sprinkle with lemon pepper. Grill until tender. Never tried it this way until the famers market had grill day. Hell they even grilled grapes!

[livetohike]

13. Okra, tomatoes and onions

1 lb. okra, sliced into 1/2" slices
1 large onion, diced
veg oil
1 16 oz. can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onions in a little vegetable oil until soft. Add the okra and saute for a few minutes more. Add the can of tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste, cover and simmer a few minutes until the okra is tender.

[Brewman_Jax]

15. If you cook it in gumbo

my family tradition is to cook the slime out first. Use a heavy skillet or wok (cast-iron or steel preferred) and saute on medium low. It's not fast.

[franmarz]

17. How you cook Okra is -anyway you like,

But have you ever just let it sit out and dry for an hour or so, and then-you can eat it raw, very crunchy with salt and pepper. Also it helps fill you up before dinner- if you are on a diet.