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Mystery Produce Review
Mar. 27th, 2008 12:21 amAs previously noted, this week's Mystery Produce Item was a peculiar Asian seed pod listed at the grocery as "drumsticks" (and located in the vicinity of the bean section). The instructions I found online (notice that I bypassed attempting to find anything useful in Joy of Cooking or Larousse Gastronomique this time) indicated that the skin was tough and fibrous and should be chewed but not eaten, while the edible part was the interior of the pod. It suggested using a peeler to scrape off any dry looking parts of the skin, then cutting the pods into finger-sized lengths and cooking in lightly salted water. When I began wielding the peeler, it seemed happy to take off the entire dark green part of the skin without doing much to the interior (sort of like a very skinny cucumber) so I had hopes that I'd reduced the inedible portion without throwing out any of the edible part. I cut them into 1.5 inch sections and simmered in salted water for about 15-20 minutes.
The web site indicated that they would then be cooked in sauce, but I went for the naked vegetable to get a sense of the basic taste. They were very mild in flavor, with just a little bit of fiber still around the edges that needed to be chewed up and spit out. (I suspect the degree of peeling that I did is exactly the right amount.) Pleasant tasting, but I can see how you might want to use them as a carrier for a more strongly flavored sauce. I can't really describe the flavor -- sort of like a summer squash or very bland eggplant, although I think my imagination is getting cross-contaminated by the texture, which was definitely in the eggplanty range. Eating drumsticks takes attention and a little effort -- sort of the same level as for artichoke, except not as messy (and without the payoff of the heart at the end). This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'll put them on my "try again sometime" list and experiment with simmering in sauce next time.
The bonus new produce this week was some fresh galingale. I grated it into a tofu stirfry (firm tofu, onion, celery, mushrooms, bean sprouts) along with ground sesame seeds and a very simply sweet-and-sour sauce (vinegar, catsup, brown sugar, soy sauce). I think I was too conservative (remembering the unfortunate results of overdoing the fresh ginger on some baked trout) -- I'm sure it contributed to the taste overall, but I didn't really notice it as anything specific. I have the rest of a rather small rhizome grated and frozen, so I'll try for a more intense experiment sometime soon.
The web site indicated that they would then be cooked in sauce, but I went for the naked vegetable to get a sense of the basic taste. They were very mild in flavor, with just a little bit of fiber still around the edges that needed to be chewed up and spit out. (I suspect the degree of peeling that I did is exactly the right amount.) Pleasant tasting, but I can see how you might want to use them as a carrier for a more strongly flavored sauce. I can't really describe the flavor -- sort of like a summer squash or very bland eggplant, although I think my imagination is getting cross-contaminated by the texture, which was definitely in the eggplanty range. Eating drumsticks takes attention and a little effort -- sort of the same level as for artichoke, except not as messy (and without the payoff of the heart at the end). This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'll put them on my "try again sometime" list and experiment with simmering in sauce next time.
The bonus new produce this week was some fresh galingale. I grated it into a tofu stirfry (firm tofu, onion, celery, mushrooms, bean sprouts) along with ground sesame seeds and a very simply sweet-and-sour sauce (vinegar, catsup, brown sugar, soy sauce). I think I was too conservative (remembering the unfortunate results of overdoing the fresh ginger on some baked trout) -- I'm sure it contributed to the taste overall, but I didn't really notice it as anything specific. I have the rest of a rather small rhizome grated and frozen, so I'll try for a more intense experiment sometime soon.
