Thomas D. Longbrake, Marvin L. Baker, Sam Cotner,
Jerry Parsons, Roland Roberts and Larry Stein
What makes an unusual vegetable unusual? Nothing really makes a vegetable unusual -- it's just that vegetables which are familiar to some people are totally strange to others. To someone living in New England, jicama may seem pretty eccentric, but to a resident of Mexico, it is the equivalent of the potato and to Hawaiians, taro or dasheen is the staple starch food. Or take chayote squash - Creole cooks call it mirliton, South Americans call it mango squash and Floridians call it a vegetable pear. These are all the same vegetable but with many names!
| Amaranths (Chinese Spinach) | Celeriac (Celery Root) | Chayote |
| Chinese Beans (Yard-long, Adzuka, Fava) | Chinese Cabbage (Pe-tsai or Won Bok or Nappa), | Chinese Mustard (Bok Choy, Pak Choi) |
| Chinese Kale (Kailaan) | Chinese Okra (Dishcloth Gourd, Luffa) | Radish (Daikon) Cilantro | (Chinese Parsley, Coriander) Edible Flowers
| Edible Podded Peas | (Snow Peas and Sugar Snaps) Edible Soybeans
| Japanese Eggplant
| Endive, | (Chicory and Witloof Chicory) Ginger
| Globe Artichoke
| Horseradish | Jerusalem Artichoke
| Jicama | (Yam Bean, Mexican Turnip) Kohlrabi | Leeks
| Melons | (Bitter Melon, Casaba, Crenshaw, Winter Melon) Mushrooms | (Enoki, Pleurotus, Shiitake) Parsnips
| Pigeon Peas
| Rhubarb | Rutabaga
| Salsify
| Shallots | Spaghetti Squash
| Taro
| Tomatillo | |
Summary
Numerous fruits and vegetables introduced in recent years were once exotic. Because of their acceptance, however, many have become specialty items and a few have even entered the commodity classification because of their adoption by chefs and the public.
The national development of the Oriental fast food restaurants has created a real demand for a new series of crops such as napa cabbage, pak-choi, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, daikon radish and many more crops previously unknown to the average American consumer or farmer.
Another factor which has influenced the public demand for "exotic" fruits and vegetables is the rapid increase in numbers of U.S. travelers to the Orient, mainly Japan, China , Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, India and more recently into Korea.
Perhaps a greater cause for the boom in demand for Oriental cuisine is the immigration ot the U.S. of whole families from Japan, China, Singapore, India, Vietnam and other countries. These immigrants have settled beyond the West Coast, where the major oriental population has lived, and are settling in places such as Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and Bryan/College Station. Oriental restaurant operators now demand the proper variety of ingredients they were accustomed to using in their native countries to prepare these authentic native food dishes.
Some of the categories of fresh vegetables and a few examples of each are:
Roots, bulbs and tubers - celeriac, diakon, ginger root, jicama, leek and shallot
Legumes - bean sprouts, Chinese longbean, fava bean and snow peas
Leafy vegetables - bok-choy, flowers, kohlrobi, nappa, parsley, radicchio and watercress
Fruiting vegetables - bitter cucumber, winter melon, chayote, tomatillos and water chestnut
Herbs - basil, caraway, chives, cilantro, epazote, marjoram, sage and thyme.
The challenges facing growers to produce many of the crops involved finding good sources of quality seed available on a local basis, and learning the cultural requirements for these unusual crops.
The information herein is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Cooperative Extension Service is implied.
Educational programs conducted by the Texas Cooperative Extension serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, religion, handicap or national origin.
Hypertext markup and graphics colorization by Kimberly A. Mason and Dan Lineberger.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/specialty/index.html