Called every store within 30 miles, no one carries jicama!

C

cynupstateny

Well-known member
Planned to make a mango and jicama salad, red onion and cilantro for a picnic tonight. Have everything else. What do you think of subbing Asian pear?

 
Water chestnuts are often a good substitute for jicama but Asian pear might be

the next best stand-in. Have fun.

 
Okay...so someone has to describe what an Asian pear SHOULD taste like. I bought one YEARS ago

at the oriental grocery store in Orlando and it had that white, stretchy, meshy "I'm gonna protect you no matter what" girdle around it.

And it was terrible. Mushy and bruised (see apparent failure of safeguards listed above) with an off-putting whiff of mold and yet...somehow, no taste at all. Just a watery....nothingness.

I had that same tasteless experience with dragon fruit, which is GORGEOUS, but VACUOUS in taste. Kind of like some of the folks that come out of Hollywood.

So, ya...I never went for another one even though my coworker's Korean wife loved them. But then she liked fermented fish, so who's to know. But Lisa is saying it would be a GENIUS substitute--and I trust her--so now my curiosity is piqued. I'm near Asheville with WF and TJ and I'm sure a better source with ethnic ingredients turn-over. Plus I had great success with newbie celeriac and the neighbor loved my virgin experience with rhubarb (still on the burner for another attempt for me), so should Asian Pear be my next Iron Chef ingredient?

PS: It's gonna get a second chance because my FIRST experience with jicama was also horrible. It tasted like I shaved tree bark into my salad. Michael in Phoenix explained (after I bit*ched about my experience) that it was probably an old, dried out root (tuber?)...and that a new one would be crisp and not woody. So I tried it again, following his hints on selection and he was absolutely right.

 
smileys/smile.gif thought it genius because an Asian pear is a very similar texture, but more

flavorful (relatively speaking), than jicama.

A fresh, ripe Asian pear has a very similar texture to a Granny Smith apple, with a very mild flavor.

I think it would be a great match with the mango - a bit more flavor and less fibrous than the jicama.

Caveating above:
...if you can find a good Asian pear...they are a Fall fruit like other pears and apples.

I am not a big fan of jicama.

 
Very familiar with Asian Pears here but it is the wrong time of the year

You might not be able to find a nice one. They aren't even in stores here now and we have prolific amounts of them in season. I would actually suggest a Bosc or some other type of pear- not totally ripe so not soft.

 
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