What Does Jicama Taste Like?

Our latest victims!

I've been hearing about jicama for years, but I've never known where to buy one or how to make it.  I have heard comparisons of jicama to other veggies and fruits like turnips, potatoes, apples, squash, and even water chestnuts.

Seeing that Chez Sage has been experimenting with vegan food (and restrictive vegan which is free of gluten and soy!), previously unexplored options are now on the table.  So when I asked Fuzz if he'd grab a jicama from his sojourn to the evil empire (Whole Foods, who still isn't treating their employees very nicely), his response was predictable: "WTF's a jicama, and how do you spell that?"

I explained what a jicama is -- known as a "Mexican turnip" or a "yam bean," it's a root veggie that is found in Mexico originally and is now also cultivated in parts of Asia.  It can be eaten raw or cooked, and many people compare the flavor and texture to raw beans, apples, and pears.

When I first thought of try a jicama in our quest for "grab-ables," all I knew was that jicama was crunchy and looked a little like a celery root (which made me wonder if it was related to celery -- I don't think it is).  Fuzz came back from the store with two jicamas (jicamae?) which he'd said cost about $1.99 a pound.  Not bad!  The next day, I went into the kitchen to peel and chop them.

What a pain in the ass to peel these jokers are.  NO LIE, they're going to make you swear mightily if you're not used to peeling them.  I used a standard veggie peeler, but then when I got to the onion-dome-shaped ends, I got lazy and hacked them off.  They looked pretty sad and gross without their skin, but I persevered.

Left: Big peeled jicama blob. Right: Tasty crunchy chunks.

After halving them, I decided to slice them into chunks and strips.  They look much prettier once they have been chopped, that's for sure.  Turns out that the jicama is pretty tasty raw.  It does have just a hint of sweetness to it, kind of like an apple or pear.  But it's not really that fruity, just a tiny bit of refreshing sweetness.  Jicama is crunchy, and a bit starchy like if a raw potato and a pear had some kind of illicit love-child.  I've heard that jicama is often eaten with salt, lime, and chili.  I can also see putting it in salads or dipping it in hummus or salsa.  There was one webpage that suggested chopping it into pieces and putting it on a fruit or veggie tray because it doesn't brown the way that apples do -- and I'll try that for sure next time I have a party.