Market Veggie Parade
Amaranth
A.K.A.: Chinese (red) spinach, tricolour amaranth, pigweed
Why try it? The dark red splotched leaves add colour to your dinner. It's packed with protein as well as plenty of vitamins and minerals. It's sold with the roots attached and therefore keeps longer in the fridge. Neither this vegetable nor its all green variety is truly spinach, in the botanical sense.
Prepare it: Wash well – there's lots of sandy grit. Discard the roots and chop into pieces or use whole.
Cook it: Stir-fry or put it into the soup pot. It's a good substitute for spinach, with more taste.
Chayote
A.K.A.: Choko, vegetable pear, Buddha's hands melon
Why try it? This old South American vegetable doesn't need to be peeled at all and its central seed is edible too, if it's not too old. It retains its firm texture even with overzealous cooks. It has a mild flavour so is easily combined with other vegetables or meats.
Prepare it: Not much else to do but wash and chop.
Cook it: Stir-fry it or, again, get the pork bones ready in a big soup pot. It also tastes great raw with dip or in salads.
Fuzzy Melon
A.K.A.: Hairy melon, fuzzy squash
Why try it? For those of you missing your zucchini fix, this is the veggie to buy as its texture is very close to that of zucchini or vegetable marrow, and can be used similarly. The small young ones have a mottled green skin and firm flesh. Don't be put off by the fact that the melon skin looks like a prepubescent boy's chin – it has tiny 'hairs' or 'fuzz' all over its skin – it's worth a try and it's cheap.
Prepare it: Can be peeled or the 'fuzz' just scrubbed off. Chop into slices or chunks.
Cook it: A bit boring on its own, so stir-fry it with meat, other vegetables or herbs to add flavour. Also, a good soup ingredient, though it will go mushy if cooked too long.
Jicama
A.K.A.: Yam bean, Mexican turnip (Jicama is Spanish, therefore pronounced hee-cama)
Why try it? It's deliciously crunchy! Since it's juicy and slightly sweet in its raw form, it's versatile and dips nicely into guacamole or salsa, and adds crispness to spring rolls and vegetable or fruit salads. And it's much less trouble to prepare than water chestnuts.
Prepare it: Choose the light coloured, least convoluted ones with a thin skin – you will lose less veggie in the peeling. You may be able to pull the skin off in large strips.
Cook it: This legume's crunchy texture is added value to any steamed or braised dish, and a good replacement for other types of starchy vegetables. Locally, it's often in stir-fried combinations that contain black beans.
What is it??
Explore was perplexed with this vegetable, not having an English name on its grocery store label, and wondering what one does with something this long. After a lot of digging and consulting, we found out that this is burdock root, or gobo in Japanese. It grows up to three feet in length and is an inch or so thick. According to Mrs. Grieves' A Modern Herbal, it's the best 'blood purifier' and used for all skin diseases, especially eczema. Locally, it's often made into an infusion to make the skin 'clear and bright'. The Japanese use it thinly sliced in stir-fried dishes or soups for its 'strengthening' and 'warming' properties.
Want to know more? Periodically, Explore puts on tours of Sai Kung markets - send us an email to find out when the next one will be held.