Jicama (Yambean, Chop Suey Yam, Singkama)
Native to Mexico, the vine-growing Jicama is a large, bulbous root with a thick brown skin and white flesh that is surprisingly refreshing with the texture and flavor of water-chestnut. It can usually be found harvested between 1-6 pounds.
Jicama is loved for its mild sweetness both raw and cooked. Even when cooked, Jicama will stay crisp.
Jícama is high in carbohydrate dietary fiber, composed of almost 90% water. Its sweetness is the result of oligofructose inulin which is a prebiotic. Jicama is high in vitamins C, A and B.
Stick with eating just the root, it’s unsafe to eat the vine, leaves or the seeds.
Prepping and Eating Tips
– Always wash your jicama well before preparing. Scrub with hands or brush too.
– The papery brown skin of jicama is not edible. To peel, trim a slice off the top and off the bottom to create a stable surface to cut away the skin.
– Once completely peeled, you can cut into pieces, dice, shred or grate it.
– Raw jicama makes a nice refreshing addition to veggie or fruit salads and crudite vegge platters. It is a prominent ingredient in Vietnamese cuisine, bringing refreshing crunch to the very popular street food Bò bía – rice paper rolls filled with jicama, eggs, chinese sausages, peanuts, herbs and lettuce.
– Jicama is also great stir-fried or added to stews, taking flavors it is cooked with while retaining crispness.
– It has also been used as a substitute for water chestnuts or bamboo shoots.
Selecting and Storing Tips
Look for firm, medium sized jicama with dry roots. Avoid jicama with blemishes, apparent wet or dry spots as it either may be an indication of internal rot. Some believe that the larger sized jicama, because they are older, may not be as flavorful.
Optimal jicama storage temperature is around 60 degrees, so keep in a cool area. It can keep up to a month. Some say that its best not to refrigerate as chill will cause damage. Other say its ok to refrigerate in a plastic bag for a few weeks. If storing a cut jicama, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator for at least a few days.
Morsel of History
If jicama is native to Mexico, how did it get to Asia and to Hawaii? Spaniards colonialists spread cultivation of jícama from Mexico to Philippines, and from there it went to China and other parts of Southeast Asia.