OK, this is blurring the line between food and flowers, but the tall plants in the background are Amorphophallus konjac, the source for glucomannan, an extract of that aroid, often called “konjac”.
Shiratake/shirataki noodles, “rice” and many zero calorie foods are are made from the bulblike corm of this plant. While I’ve not extracted the glucomannan from the corms, I have made shiratake noodles from purchased glucomannan powder. Like many foods that are primarily fiber and low/no calorie, shiratake noodles have a laxative effect if one is not acclimated to consuming it.
Shrinkrap, I’m very fond of Aroids, which began with childhood admiration of wild stands of Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) flowers. Many of these are food plants, like Taro. Others need special treatment to be eaten because they contain microscopic crystals of Calcium Oxalate. Those crystals create a sensation of having a hornet’s nest in your mouth; stings! Jack-in-the-Pulpit was my first, and hopefully last, experience with this effect. The Native Americans ate Jack-in-the-Pulpit after slicing the corms thin, sun drying, and additional drying in breathable baskets for many months. Air and changes in humidity eventually break down the crystals, providing a winter food with long storage life. Hence Jack-in-the-Pulpit’s other common name “Indian Turnip”.
I’m seeking out another Aroid, the Elephant Yam, Amorphophallus paeoniifolius, which is a food plant of tropical Asia. I hear it has some stinging crystals which can be removed by certain cooking methods, some of which use Tamarind in the cook water. There’s a grower in Florida who has them.
The plant world is like the insect world; each goes on, seemingly forever, down fascinating pathways which keep branching.
If you get overrun, there’s always a tomato mill, like a squeezo, to make puree or juice. Last year, I got an Italian made, very large, hand-crank tomato mill, about twice the size of the Squeezo. Core and chop the tomatoes into big chunks, toss them in a pot to cook a little (destroys an enzyme which causes pulp separation). Then, when it’s cool, pour the tomatoes into the mill and crank the handle. Seeds and skins come out one side and juice/pulp go down a sluice to a bowl. You don’t have to precook the tomatoes if the end product will be a reduction sauce.
As is, the juice is great for gazpacho, drinking. You can cook it down further for a reduction sauce.
Thank you! You have reminded me that I have a tomato mill. I will put it to work.
I’ve got gazpacho and roasted tomatoes on rotation.
Working on this week’s batch today. With some frozen ripe poblanos from last year, and my first ripe peppers from @bogman’s “I think two year old Aji Amarillo plants” ! Zesty!
That looks great already! Bet it’s all gone by now!
The first Sugar Rush Peach peppers are starting to color-up. I’m curious if it’d be an easier to grow stand-in for Aji Amarillo. It’s related, C. baccatum, and has a lot of great reviews. I’ll be saving seeds if anyone is interested. Aji Charapita, C. chinense, is also on the seed saving to-do list. Those are the only peppers I’m growing this year to quell the diseases that were hammering them a couple years back.
While stumbling around for some real scientific papers on Bitter Melon, Momordica charantia, I came across this NIH.Gov paper. The reason is the Bitter Melon crop here is coming in and… well…they are bitter! I’ve got one recipe down which is good (parboiled rings, stuffed with ground, lean pork, cooked with fermented black beans and chilies), and am trying to locate some other healthy recipes that are not deep fried chips. Two white-fruited types are growing here; one is Japanese and one Chinese. I’ll get some images of the former, Jyunpaku, which I grew last year just for seeds.
Here are some nice recipe for butter melon. It is good esp if ou like fermented shrimp called bagoong which is salty . If so, go easy with the salted black beans.
If you do not like the bitterness that much, here is how the filipino do it.
There are many recipes for bitter melon I is a favorite also among the filipino community. . Look up Ampalaya recipe. I like it also with tomatoes onions, ground meat and eggs
On a bizarre side note none of our tomato plants are developing any fruit. Obviously hard to tell from the pics but I can’t spot one tomato coming in on any of the 6-8 plants and varieties we planted. Odd to say the least.
.Incidientlaly, those Hon mirin cost $12 USD based on exchange when I purchased it, but Fed EX express shipping cost a lot more so, buying two bottles with S/H came to $49. The store is very user friendly and communicates well, even tracking shipment and reminding me it arrived. They are correct. It took only 4 days to arrive, faster than it would have arrived from west to east coast. I was relieved bec these days of covid, shipping is a concern.
Sapore di Mari is a liquid obtained from the maturation and seasoning process of anchovies pressed in salt , following an ancient process handed down from father to son by the fishermen of Cetara. The anchovies are placed in a container, arranged with the classic ‘head-tail’ technique in alternating layers of salt and anchovies. Once the layers are completed, the container is covered with a disk, on which weights are placed. The liquid, due to the pressing and ripening of the anchovies, begins to emerge on the surface; it is a clear amber-colored distillate with a strong and full-bodied flavor.
It is typically accompanied by spaghetti with anchovy sauce.( I still add a tin of anchovy in EVOO when I make this dish) In addition, Colatura is used instead of salt to flavor fresh or boiled vegetables (potatoes, broccoli, etc.) and some fish dishes.
I stumbled into this when googling , saw review by Lydia Bastianich and purchased one bottle from Amazon. It was amazing!
Anyway, at $21.oo and change, that was pricey for me ,so I googled and found it at Bella italianfood store.com for just around $11.00 plus shipping. I ended up buying 7 bottles from them . Would have purchased more but their stock expires Dec 2021.
Although the shelf life is for more than a year, Bella Italia advised me not to buy more till new stock came in. However, I have been using it a lot specially on roasted vegetables, Aglio y Olio and of course, have given away a few bottles to friends who came to visit and loved it as well.
Another great buy is wild caught wood smoked sardines in EVOO from Polar. They are hand packed individually and is great with Carr’s cheese melt biscuit. Unfortunately, Costco stopped carrying this cheese melt. Can be found on internet thru Walmart. It may be under Carr’s brand but Carr told me they are made for them by a company in Amsterdam. Any time I am lazy cooking, my Pomeranians and I enjoy this immensely!
Thank you, ccj, for the recipes! Though the first one is similar to the stuffed version I make, there was good info on choosing older fruits for less bitterness; that is not true for many Cucurbits and somewhat contrary to expectation.
A quick, salt water blanch helps quite a bit. I suspect that when the Chinese white and Japanese white Bitter Melon come in, it’ll be hard to give away around here.
you can always toss it over here.
Hard to find them in local storesunless I travel to va to Asian supermarket
it is a fact that it helps with diabetic person to consume it.
Mother always advised me to eat it as a child to prevent cancer but that is not really8 documented.
