The Whole Okra

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by DonDuck

Do the colored okra retain their various colors when cooked or do they all become green when cooked?

They lose their color with heat.
I am thinking about growing some and doing a cold pickle or ferment to see if they retain color.

[imp]

Don, they all turn green as best I know from my own experiences, YMMV, though as I haven't grown every single "colored" okra.

[DonDuck]

If they all turn green, there probably isn't much taste difference either. Other than looking pretty in the garden and possibly making them easier to see while harvesting; I don't see any reason for me to grow them. I've not eaten one, so they may taste better than the normal green pods. I could probably cook them with some beets from the garden and they would stay red.

[DonDuck]

Originally Posted by imp

Don, they all turn green as best I know from my own experiences, YMMV, though as I haven't grown every single "colored" okra.

Hi Imp, good to see you!

[imp]

Originally Posted by DonDuck

Hi Imp, good to see you!

Subtle taste differences, textures, various amounts of slime and shapes to a limited amount, too. Some of the colored ones are good for hiding in plain sight in a front flower bed sort of thing.


Thank you sir.

[Tracydr]

I like the colored ones as they are stunning in the garden,especially a whole group of them.
I grew a bunch along with two types of amaranth and some very tall corn one year and it was amazing.
We were in the process of selling our house and I wanted our raised beds to be an asset rather than an eyesore. They were beautiful!
The red okras do work as a cold or fermented pickle and retain their color just fine that way.

[chrismith82]

I eat the stems too! They are generally crunchier, but good. I have noticed that a spineless pod can have a spiny stem though...

[chrismith82]

I've not found a distinct difference between red and green beyond the color, but there are flavor differences between different types of okra. They are quite nuanced, but there are certainly better tasting okras, usually the flavor descriptors run along the lines of 'nutty' and 'sweet'. Older okra (whole still tender) tends to have less of a 'grassy' taste, probably because of more mature seeds.

Ferments and cold pickles and raw salads are the bet way to celebrate the red pods in the kitchen.

[chrismith82]

Originally Posted by Zeedman

Well... I have more okra than I've ever had, and have been trying to make pickles. Using cold pack, too much air remains trapped in the pods. After the hot water bath, that air results in an excessive gap - up to an inch or more, which leaves part of the pods uncovered by the brine.



Can okra be quick-blanched to remove some of the air from the pods? Has anyone done this? Any tips?

The trick that Sean Brock shares in his cookbook, Heritage, is to use a sharp knife to slit the pod just under the stem. This allows the vinegar in without releasing a bunch of slime.

[chrismith82]

Originally Posted by DonDuck

I want to save seed from my okra this year. Some pods escaped my attention when I was picking and grew to giant pods. They seem to have stopped growing and I am debating removing them and drying them off the plants. The plants with the largest pods have really slowed down in production and I hope to restart them by removing the large pods. Are the seeds in the large pods developed well enough to germinate next spring without drying on the plant?

It takes about 40 days from anthesis to mature seeds, which actually means you can harvest the pods when they are still greenish and finish drying in place. A trick Ira Wallace shares is to look when the sutres begin to split as a sign that the seeds are about ready.

[chrismith82]

Originally Posted by DonDuck

I thought the okra slime is only in the pods. I was wrong. Every part of my plants have slimy sap. I'm wondering if the stalks are removed right after the first frost, dried and ground into powder; would the powder have any nutritional value.

The bast fibers make a good cordage and home made paper. I've not thought about eating the stems, but have dried them for fire starting sticks (they burn hot and quick and light easily). The root can be dug and the mucilage extracted. My guess is that the dried leaves and pods will have more nutrition than the stalk.

[DonDuck]

Some of my Bush Cowhorn plants have grown so large they have become top heavy and lean precipitously. I've put large rocks against the 3" diameter stems to prop them up. I'm wondering if they lean because they were planted as seedlings and a tap root didn't develop.

[imp]

Originally Posted by DonDuck

Some of my Bush Cowhorn plants have grown so large they have become top heavy and lean precipitously. I've put large rocks against the 3" diameter stems to prop them up. I'm wondering if they lean because they were planted as seedlings and a tap root didn't develop.

Italy may claim the fame of he leaning tower of Pisa, but here in Texas, we got the leaning tree of okra -- and you can't eat the Italian tower!!


Maybe the lean will help you get the top most pods more easily?

[chrismith82]

Originally Posted by DonDuck

Some of my Bush Cowhorn plants have grown so large they have become top heavy and lean precipitously. I've put large rocks against the 3" diameter stems to prop them up. I'm wondering if they lean because they were planted as seedlings and a tap root didn't develop.

Transplanted okra has a greater tendency to lodging that direct seeded okra, this has been shown in side by side trials.

[DonDuck]

Originally Posted by imp

Italy may claim the fame of he leaning tower of Pisa, but here in Texas, we got the leaning tree of okra -- and you can't eat the Italian tower!!


Maybe the lean will help you get the top most pods more easily?

Nope, I've got a three step, step ladder for that. I am 6'2" tall, but the okra is in a raised bed and I can't reach the top.