On 7/19/2014 12:03 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
> On 7/19/2014 8:26 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
>> On Sat, 19 Jul 2014 08:11:02 -0400, James Silverton wrote:
>>
>>> I like fresh water chestnuts in Chinese cooking but my favorite Chinese
>>> grocery does not seem to have them in. Another nearby Chinese place had
>>> excellent ones at not too high a price. Can anyone tell me if water
>>> chestnuts are a seasonal vegetable in the US and, if so, what is the
>>> season?
>>
>> I see them in the late summer through fall. I often use jicima
>> instead, depending on what I'm making.
>>
>> -sw
>>
>
> I never thought of doing that, but it makes sense. The texture is almost
> identical and most of the time when you are using water chestnuts in
> Chinese cooking you are using it for texture.
>
> I would probably relegate the use of jicama to dishes with pronounced
> sauces as I would think you could taste jicama if the rest of the dis
> was not seasoned well.
>
> This is one of the reasons I love this group. The occasional chocolate
> is worth sorting through the dog poop :-)
>
I must try jicama in the recipe I have for water chestnut and asparagus
stir fry that I like a lot. Now that I recall, jicama is close to water
chestnut in taste as you say but I've usually had it raw. It's good in
gazpacho soup.

--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not." in Reply To.