Tuesday 15 April 2008

Miso-Glazed daikon, asparagus & okra, tossed with sesame seeds

Okra doesn't seem to be a popular vegetable in Australia, but I've always seen tins of the stuff down at my local mediterranean-influenced markets and have wanted to try cooking with it. Gib was also curious to try it after playing World of Warcraft and saw dropping of monsters in Westfall. So while browsing a local Indian grocery store, we decided to buy a bag of it and see how it goes. I've heard people say that okra has an unpleasant texture, as it tends to be quite gummy, but this did not offend me in the least. I adapted the recipe followning from here. We also roasted up a couple of leeks and served them with the wasabi-lemon sauce (the sauce was very tasty, I'll keep that in mind for the future) but it wasn't nearly as good as the okra dish:

1/3 cup yellow miso paste
1 1/2 tsp kewpie mayonnaise
1 tablespoon soy sauce
6 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 daikon
2 carrots
2 bunches of asparagus
200 g okra

Mix miso paste, mayonnaise and soy sauce until combined. Set aside.

Toast sesame seeds in a dry pan for ~1 minute until golden brown. Peel daikon and carrot and cut into 1" chunks. Snap off hard bottoms of the asparagus and cut pieces in half. Wash okra and allow to drain.

In a steamer, cook daikon and carrot for approximately 10 minutes or until just tender (do not overcook!), and place in a large mixing bowl. Steam asparagus and okra together about 5 minutes, or until just tender and the vegetables are still a vivid green. Add okra and asparagus to carrot and daikon. Add the miso mixture to the hot vegetables, and mix thoroughly so that the sap from the okra binds with the miso. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on top.

Serve with rice. Serves 4.


4 comments:

Kirsty said...

That looks fantastic! I might have to give this one a go.

sr said...

This looks yummy.. the only way I have ever had okra was sliced and deep fried in batter. Nice and crisp, not too much flavor though aside from the batter.
I guess its pretty popular in southern "comfort food". Ive had it a few times at a chain restaurant near me called Cracker Barrell.. with mac and cheese, chicken, bisquits and gravy etc. I like it so far, but never thought of just cooking it plain! Ill have to give it a try!
~Shannon (R.I. US)

Beth said...

Thanks for the comment shan! I've read many of the southern "comfort food" style recipes for okra, like you mentione, but we just don't get anything like that here in Australia. I should mention that I offered this to my parents and they didn't like it AT ALL, mostly the texture, I think (they'd never tried okra before, it's not a popular vegetable here) -- maybe they'd like them better fried with cheese and gravy?

My Blog said...

I've heard people say that okra has an unpleasant texture, as it tends to be quite gummy, but this did not offend me in the least.