30 Seeds " Yam Bean - Brown Skin " Jicama, Mexican Potato, Seng Kuang, Kuzuimo.

NOT FOR TAS AND WA

Yam Bean

Mexican Potato

( White Skin Variety )

Also Known as : Jicama , Climbing Yam Bean , Mexican Potato , Mexican Water Chestnut , Mexican Turnip , Seng Kuang , Di Gwa , Kuzuimo , Sinkamas , Man Kaeo , Sakalu .

Jicama (pronounced he'-cama) has a variety of common names including climbing yam bean; Mexican potato; Mexican Water Chestnut; Mexican turnip; (Vietnam); seng kuang (Malay); di gwa (Chinese); kuzuimo (Japan); sinkamas (Filipino); man kaeo (Thai); sankalu (Hindi). Jicama is a vigorous, subtropical and tropical, climbing legume vine from South America. It has very pretty, big, blue pea flowers. Sadly the flowers should usually be removed as the bean pods and seeds are toxic, they also take a lot of vigour from the plant and reduce the harvest of tubers considerably. Let one plant go to seed for your next year's crop. Even though this plant is an herbaceous perennial, it is usually grown as an annual, because the root tuber, the perennial part, is also the bit harvested. Jicama can be propagated from a tuber or seed. The plants die back in winter in cool climates but the tubers will shoot again in spring. The root of jicama develops swellings the size of a large turnip, (up to 5 per plant) under the surface of the ground.

Commonly use : The sweet, juicy, crisp tubers are eaten raw or lightly cooked. To prepare, peel off the brown skin. The raw tubers taste like a cross between a water chestnut and an apple and do not discolour when cut. It is a great addition to salads and can be used as a crudité. It is also substituted for water chestnuts in stir-fry. In Mexico it is sliced thinly and sprinkled with salt, lemon juice and chilli sauce. As a food, jicama is low in calories, only 45 calories for one cup of cubed root.