Kohlrabi
By Anna King Shahab
Cousin to cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, and other members of the brassica family – like its relatives, kohlrabi sees us through autumn and winter time.
Although it looks a bit root-like, the stout main bulb of kohlrabi in fact grows just above ground, the swollen base of the stem. They can be either pale green or tinged purplish. Bigger, older kohlrabi can be tough and stringy, so look for small and medium bulbs. Stored in a ziplock bag in the vege crisper, it can last well over a week.
Kohlrabi is easy to prep – peel off the skin and slice off the ends. If yours came with nice green leaves attached, they can be set aside for all the s’s: steaming, stir fries, soups, stews, and stocks.
The bulb itself can be sliced as you like and steamed, baked, fried, or roasted – much like a potato, really. Unlike a potato it also performs brilliantly raw. When you pick a good one, the flavour is mild and rather sweet, and less peppery or sulphurous than many of its brassica cousins, it can therefore sit alongside distinctive ingredients without muscling in – again, much like a potato – a useful trait in a vegetable at times.
Here are a few of our favourite ways to enjoy kohlrabi:
Cooked
Cut into larger chunks, toss with olive oil, herbs, seasoning, and roast or cook in the air fryer. Toss with grated Parmigiano Reggiano or other sharp hard cheese before serving.
It makes a beautiful soup – cooked till soft and blended with sauteed onion, stock, cream.
Slice thin half-moons and sauté in a cast iron pan with lots of butter, and a little pepper and salt, until caramelising, then shake through some balsamic vinegar and a lick of cream to make it saucy.
Dice and throw into chunky vegetable soups, stew, goulash etc.
Raw
In any kind of slaw (julienned or matchsticks) or in a Waldorf-like salad (diced). One go-to for winter is julienned kohlrabi tossed with very thinly sliced kale massaged with olive oil, julienned Granny Smith, toasted walnuts, chopped dill, and a dressing of cream, lemon juice, grainy mustard, apple cider vinegar, and evoo.
It makes a pretty good fill-in for green papaya when the tropics are a distant thought. Shred it(using a julienne peeler if it’s a large kohlrabi, or by peeling thin slices and then slicing into very thin, long matchsticks) and lightly crush with pestle in a large mortar along with shredded carrot, strawberry tomatoes, snake beans, a bird’s eye chilli or two, few cloves garlic, lime juice, fish sauce, and a little palm sugar.
Julienne and make a roulade along with a good quality mayo, a little Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, pinch sugar, and finely chopped parsley or dill – serve with a beefy steak, or salmon that’s cured, smoked, or baked.
