Okras has many common names but also mainly known as Lady's Fingers or Gumbos.
In my family (Vietnamese), we eat the Okra either in a sweet and sour fish soup (for which I'm still working on a recipe post) or just plainly steamed as it preserves the taste and nutrients. What is consumed from the Okra plant is the fruit. One downside of cooking/eating okra is its slime, especially when boiled. Although the slime itself is claimed to have medicinal properties, not everyone enjoys its texture, I don't. Here are few tips to reduce the sliminess when preparing and cooking Okras:
- avoid washing the Okras until you are ready to cook them as water will enhance the sliminess
- cook whole, you can remove the stem after cooking, we just leave it and leave the stem behind when eating
- if you need them cut, prefer thin slices to allow more slime to drain
Cooking Okra
There are many ways to cook Okra with recipes all over the internet. I will post a family recipe in another post but the easiest and our favorite way is just steamed (I've just steemed about steaming lol), the cooked Okra can be dipped into Maggi seasoning sauce. Here is a tip to steam without a steamer, put the Okras in a pot or pan and add a thin layer of water and cook for few minutes with the lid on. The water will evaporate and stay inside.
Health Benefits of Okra
Before going into the benefits, here is a warning. Okra contains high level of oxalates which can bind to existing kidney and gallstones and cause them to grow and may worsen the associated conditions. Frying Okras can also increase your daily intake of cholesterol.
Here are some of the claimed beneficial/medicinal properties of the Okra. I highly recommend you always counter check those sort of claims from a trusted source or scientific papers:
- Improves heart health
- Improves eyesight
- Good for the skin
- Boosts immunity
- Helps lower cholesterol
- Helps stabilize blood sugar
- Good for digestion
- various sources are claiming more benefits...
Nutrition value of the Okra
For a serving size of 1/2 cup cooked Okras contains about:
- 25 kcal calories
- 5.8 g carbs
- 1.5 g protein
- 37 mg folic acid
- 13 mg Vitamin C
- 46 mg Magnesium
- 460 IU Vitamin A
- 2g dietary fiber
- 257 mg Potassium
- 50 mg Calcium
- 0.4 mg Iron
Growing Okras
You can, of course, buy them but once you have tasted homegrown Okras, you won't want to buy them in the supermarket anymore. Growing your own can also give you larger but still yummy fruits.
I grow okras from seeds that are a bit smaller than a pea. I soak them overnight and plant them straight in a garden bed. With my finger, I punch a tiny hole where I will set the seed in and cover it with a bit of soil from around. Each seed will be separate from another by at least 30cm. After the plants have grown to about 15cm high, I would cover the ground with a good layer of mulch or compost to help retain moisture. Every month I would add more vermicompost and I would also water with seaweed-based fertilizer or some aerated compost tea. After about 2 months, you should be able to get your first harvest. My 7 plants are giving us about 3-5 fruits every 2-3 days. We let them go big but not too old. To know if your Okra is too old or not, break the tip, if it snaps easily then it is still young and good but if it is hard to break and to tear out then it is too old and you should harvest earlier. We usually leave three of the first fruits for their seeds for the next season.
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fantastic post about a great and easy to grow garden plant, okra! we are definitely looking forward to your homemade recipe! we didn't grow up where okra was cooked so we're open to learning new ways of sharing it. thanks for this comprehensive post! you've been resteemed @the-hearth, @mountainjewel's curation page.
Hey! This was really informative for me as I am a huge Okra lover! I cook Okra very often and I grow an Okra plant at home. The best thing is that it's easy to grow too. I normally get rid of the stem before cooking. Never did I know the health benefits though! Thanks :)
I believe all plants have some sort of medicinal benefits, at least the one to keep us alive hahahaha.
The first time I see such a vegetable. I was curious to know what he was like. In the photo, he looks very appetizing!
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You must love okra a lot
Why does it get slimy
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The slime is the same principle as with Aloe Vera and it is called mucilage, it’s some sugar residue and protein.
Oh that how it works for @steembasicincome? Thanks for thinking of me, I wouldn’t say no 😜
What do you get yourself as a member?
I get one share as well
We enter as equals
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Got the first upvote. Thanks again!