I like okra. Am I weird?

[CTyankee]

I grew up in Texas, where we ate okra just boiled. When I came up North people thought I was strange. It was okay as long as it was fried or with a sauce but I grew up eating it, slime and all, with a little butter and salt and pepper. I think it's the slime that puts people off. Well, also the fuzz, but that's OK too as far as I'm concerned.

Now okra is a new food for some people because it is combined with another sauce in some cultures. That's okay, but it robs you of the flavor of the pod, just plain with butter, s&p.

[dhol82]

1. I like it too. In all its permutations.

[OLDMDDEM]

2. I agree

I like okra but want it fried.

[KarenS]

3. personally I don't like it,,,

only fried and then not so much

it is one of those foods that once I moved out of my parents house, I never had to eat again.

but different strokes, ya know?

[jmbar2]

4. I LOVE okra!

Grew up in Texas too. I love Luby's fried okra.

The best, though, is a Japanese style, quick pickled.

- Blanch the okra for about a minute or two - should still have a little crunch
- Drain
- Pour mixture of Japanese rice wine vinegar, a bit of sugar, and a dash of sesame oil over it.
- Let it cool for about 15 mins.

Delish!

[CTyankee]

6. with the stem part cut off?

[jmbar2]

20. I leave the stem on, and just bite the rest off. Keeps it from getting slimy.

[Thomas Hurt]

5. I like fried okra. I will pass on the boiled okra. Grandfather ate pickled okra.

He lived through the great depression though, ate a lot of pickled and canned food.

[Ohio Joe]

10. pickled okra?

I like many, many pickled foods but I've never seen or heard of pickled okra (I love fried okra), I'll have to look for it and give it a try.

Thanks!

[XanaDUer2]

7. I love it fried with cornmeal coating nt

[MissMillie]

8. Okra has nothing to do with it. You're weird.

[zuul]

9. I live in New Orleans and I hate it.

I don't mind when the chef sneaks some into gumbo or another such dish, but served any other way: hell no.

[secondwind]

11. Okra lover here.... you are not weird...

[Bayard]

12. I love okra!

Not the way I grew up on it though, with the life boiled out of it. I make it still just a bit crunchy (has to be fresh). Also good cooked in with blackeyed or crowder peas.

Yummers!

[jfz9580m]

13. I like sauted or fried okra

You are on your own with the boiled stuff .

[niyad]

14. YES!!!!

[mn9driver]

15. Boiled, plain Okra is a big no.

Any other way is fine with me.

[Eugene]

16. No problem with boiled okra.

My dad was from the south, and boiled okra, maybe with onions and other spices, was how my family usually ate it.

[Marthe48]

17. I like it and have it a couple times a week

I used to eat it with tomatoes over rice, had to cut back on tomatoes. Now I have it in chili, stir-fry, curried chicken veg. soup and with sausage and black-eyed peas. I've had dill pickled okra and would eat it again.
I grew it in my garden once or twice. Very exotic looking leaves and beautiful blossoms, and productive.
I read about it's history. Interesting plant, and lots of nutrition.

[CTyankee]

23. I figure it was something easily grown in Texas and poorer folks could grow it. I see it is now

seen in a more global and historical aspect.

[jcgoldie]

18. okra is delicious

I pickle it with dill and chile peppers The key is picking them when they are tender only 2-3 " long and freezing them until you have enough to can. If you pick em together half of them will be fibrous and tough as trees.

[CJW]

19. I love fried okra!

I just love fried okra!

[3catwoman3]

21. I also like okra in its various...

...permutations.

[Laffy Kat]

22. Rolled in cornmeal and flour and then fried to almost a crisp!

Yum!

[malaise]

25. So do I

[Elessar Zappa]

26. I like it rolled in cornmeal and deep fried.

Plain not so much. Although I might try your suggestion of adding butter.

[sarge43]

27. Hard to come by here in the far north, but when it does show up,

I like it stir fried with tomato, onion and dash Cajun spices.

[CTyankee]

33. Oh, I'm still here, but I miss my okra (hubby won't eat it, being from Wisconsin and all)

I'm done with my second book, The Gladdened Heart: the Art of Music, and it is in the hands of my wonderful editor/designer. I am working on my third book: Fragile: the artist's command of gesture and pose. I'll let DU folks know when my second is actually published.

[LeftInTX]

29. I don't like it

Hubby will eat it pickled.

I will eat it fried and stewed, but usually that's if there isn't anything better to eat

Okra has a "gamey taste" like hominy

[smirkymonkey]

31. I like it too and I am a dyed-in-the-wool northeasterner.

I rarely get a chance to have it, and when I do, it is usually in gumbo or in other southern dishes. It will occasionally show up at BBQ places here in New England, but I really like it and wish we would see more of it.

[Emile]

32. It has to be fried for me, same with zucchini.

[Upthevibe]

34. CTyankee....

I love okra! I'm a native Texan (but have lived in CA most of my adult life).

Okra was something we had all the time. I especially loved the fried okra I used to get at a cafeteria I used to go to growing up called Luby's.

I haven't had okra in a very long time, and I miss it.....

[NNadir]

35. To each his or her own. For my part, I'd have no problem sending the entire okra crop to Russia.

[ProfessorGAC]

36. We Like It, Too

It's pretty important for many Cajun dishes because of the mucilage in okra.
Mucilage is a blend of oxidized polysaccharides & glycoproteins that are natural emulsifiers.
Lately, it's been hard to find fresh okra around here. I make gumbo about every 6 weeks & I haven't had fresh okra for 3 or 4 months.
I thicken with a roux instead, but it's not quite the same.

[Upthevibe]

37. CTyankee....

I love okra! I'm a native Texan (but have lived in CA most of my adult life).

Okra was something we had all the time. I especially loved the fried okra I used to get at a cafeteria I used to go to growing up called Luby's.

I haven't had okra in a very long time, and I miss it.....

[PufPuf23]

38. Okra is easy and nice to grow, makes nice flowers than open and close and

follow the Sun.

Eat it all ways but boiled.

Like in eggs scrambled or fried or in a stew / gumbo / curry mix.

Best to pick when very tender.

Here is something good.

Get a good quality raw cheese pizza like Costco.

Top with many okra rounds, fresh peppers, hot Cajun sausage, garlic, and pepper jack cheese.

This is really tasty, restaurants should have okra pizzas.