Okra young pods are edible, picked when green and tender, the main part of the young fruit. Fresh young okra raw taste is really good, than eating cucumber, squash flavor is much more refreshing. Moreover, its flesh is soft and sweet, with a unique flavor that highlights the crunchy, juicy, rounded texture. Even in Africa, okra is still a very common raw snack, the local people will okra surface layer of fluff clean, directly into the mouth chewing food.
How to eat okra
1, directly wash and eat
Select the tender okra, scrub clean, directly into the mouth, like eating cucumbers. The taste is crisp and slightly salty, and the chewing becomes gradually sweet, and the thick and smooth mucus will slowly flow in the mouth with each chew.
Fresh young okra raw taste is quite good, than eating cucumber flavor is much more refreshing. The flesh is soft, crisp and sweet, with a unique flavor that brings out the crisp, juicy and mellow texture.
2, cold or salad raw
There is also a raw food eating method, is to cut the okra cold, dipping sauce to eat, or made into a salad.
Before eating raw okra, it is best to blanch it
Whatever you choose to eat okra, it is recommended to blanch it first. Although okra can be eaten raw, but the taste is not very good, very salivary sticky, but also with a faint astringent flavor, and after blanching, okra taste can be changed, smooth and not greasy, unique flavor, crisp and juicy. Therefore, it is best to do blanching before eating or cooking okra, not blanching okra is generally difficult to swallow, not to mention eating it raw.
Okra raw or cooked eat good
On okra raw or cooked eat good, mercifully wise, both have advantages and disadvantages:
1, okra raw advantages and disadvantages
Advantages: nutrients retained the maximum
Raw eat this way of eating almost does not destroy all the nutrients it contains, so from this point of view, should be eaten raw. that it should be better to eat it raw.
Disadvantage: eating slightly monotonous bitter also easy to hurt
Raw although it can maximize the maintenance of its nutrients, but this kind of eating will make people feel monotonous, and the taste is not very good, very saliva sticky, but also with a slight astringent flavor, may produce resistance. (However, this can be blanched beforehand, astringent flavor will improve some) In addition, because okra is cold, it is not advisable to eat more, eat raw cold more heavy, after cooking can also be appropriate to reduce the cold it.
2, okra cooked to eat the advantages and disadvantages
Advantages: taste good variety of choices
Ignore the shortcomings of cooked to fry as much as possible to maximize the preservation of its nutrients, eating methods may be more, more flavor choices. It can be fried, boiled in soup, made into salad, fried, cold, sauced, vinegared, made kimchi and many other cooking methods. It can be cooked alone or with other foods. Okra is often used to make thick soups or stews, and the soup becomes thick and flavorful. So, there are more chances of eating it, and from this point of view, it is not bad to eat it cooked.
Drawbacks: Nutrients will be lost
Fried or boiled will lose some nutrients after all, not as nutritious as eating raw.
3, comprehensive recommendations or more cooked better
Although raw food nutrients maximum retention, but its potential shortcomings can not be ignored. It is recommended that occasionally eat raw, but do not often eat raw, and the amount of raw food to pay more attention to. Overall, the best way to eat okra is to eat it cooked.