Poor jicama. Like many of its fellow root vegetables, it looks seriously unappetizing. Plus, there's that wacky name. (It's pronounced HEE-kah-mah.)
So there it sits on produce shelves, waiting for somebody to take a gamble.
It's a safe bet.
Beneath that crusty tan skin is tender, crunchy flesh that tastes like a cross between celery, cucumber and water chestnuts, with a bit of sweetness and the pleasant texture of a radish.
Once it sheds that curmudgeonly skin, jicama can be the life of the party. It almost always steals the show on raw-vegetable platters; guests invariably take a bite and ask, "What is this?" Then they reach for seconds.
A cousin of the sweet potato, jicama hails from Mexico and South America, writes Sharon Tyler Herbst in "Food Lover's Companion." It's diet-friendly, too: 1 cup has just 46 calories, plus 6 grams of fiber and 180 milligrams of potassium.
What to look for: Available year-round, jicama used to be found only in ethnic stores, but now many supermarkets sell it. The fibrous "hairs" and lumpy skin are part of the package, but avoid any sign of mold or dark bruises.
At home: Store jicama, cut or whole, in the refrigerator's crisper drawer. Wrap it in plastic if you cut it. Whole, it should keep one to three weeks; cut, about one week, writes Aliza Green in "Field Guide to Produce."
The skin has to go. Though vegetable peelers will work, a sharp paring knife is the better tool. Be thorough. You may lose some of the juicy flesh, but better that than biting into the gnarly exterior. It's generally a pound or two and deceptively large, so you'll still have plenty left to enjoy.
Jicama is tasty raw or cooked. Raw, it's wonderful in salads. Cut into matchstick size and team it with orange segments, avocado slices, salad greens and a citrusy vinaigrette. A colleague likes to sprinkle raw jicama with chili powder and lime juice.
When cooked, jicama has a potatolike texture, Green writes. She suggests sautéing diced jicama with carrots and beans, or simmering it in stews as you would a potato.
