Publisher's Note

Publisher’s Note
It was 22 years ago when I arrived in Canada and chose Calgary, Alberta to be my home. Leaving my family and friends behind, it was a new adventure for me to be in a new country without knowing anyone. That was the time I looked for a Filipino community paper and never found any, [...]
Read full post »

Visitors to Pinoytimes

Start of StatCounter Code

End of StatCounter Code

Page added on May 26, 2011

Email This Post Printable version

Print This Post

JICAMA (SINGKAMAS)

Summer time in the Philippines means Jicama time! A very popular street food paired with bagoong (shrimp paste) eaten raw, peeled and chilled. Contrary to the common belief, the use of jicama goes beyond street food snacking. It is a versatile extender, mostly used as additional ingredients in many Chinese dishes. Therefore, jicama is a nice complement to various stir-fry dishes because it blends well with many vegetables and seasonings. I hope you will enjoy some of the recipes in our taste-buds below to give a very common ingredient a well deserved highlight.

Commonly termed as singkamas,Jicama is between the legume/bean and tuber food family groups. It’s turnip and radish appearance with water chestnut taste is native to Mexico, Central and South America, where it is a popular dietary staple. Spaniards introduced jicama to the Philippines in the 17th century and it became popular in Southeast Asia and China. Here are the many names for Jicama: the Mexican potato, Mexican yam bean, ahipa, saa got, Chinese turnip, lobok, the Chinese potato and of course in our native tongue- singkamas.

Singkamas skin is thin and can be gray, tan, or brown in colour. It has white flesh with a taste and texture similar to a water chestnut, as well as being crisp, sweet and nutty, similar to a pear or an apple, or a cross between an apple and a potato. Jicama is mostly eaten peeled and raw. Singkamas tends to take on the flavors of the ingredients with which it is being combined, similar to the characteristics of mushrooms. Jicama contains a high amount of vitamin C, is low in sodium, and has no fat. One adult single serving of singkamas, approximately 1 cup of cubes (120 grams), contains only 45 calories.

Jicama is available year-round. When purchasing jicama, select those that are firm and have dry roots. Make sure that the jicama has an unblemished skin that is not bruised. Once purchased, jicama can be stored for up to two weeks in a plastic bag in your refrigerator.

NOTE: Do not eat other parts of the jicama plant as they may be poisonous. Mature seeds have a fairly high content of rotenone, a chemical used as an insecticide and pesticide!

TASTE-BUDS

Fresh Vegetable/Jicama Rolls (Lumpiang Singkamas)

Ingredients:

1 jicama, large, cut julienne

½ kilo lean pork, sliced thinly

¼ kilo shrimp, sliced

1 carrot, medium, cut julienne

½ cup green beans, French cut

1 medium sweet potato, cut julienne

1 cup cabbage, shredded

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsps. Fish sauce

Pepper to taste

6 rice papers

PEANUT SAUCE:

½ cup smooth peanut butter

1 Tbsps soy sauce

¼ cup brown sugar

2 cups water

Procedure:
Bring water to boil in a medium pan. Add peanut butter and sugar.
Stir until ingredients have blended well. Add soy sauce.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Saute onion and garlic until translucent. Add pork and shrimp and fish sauce.
Add jicama, carrots and cook for few minutes. Add beans and sweet potatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add cabbage, stir slightly and cook for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and wrap in rice paper.
Pour sauce over top of the roll
Sprinkle with ground peanuts.

Mango/Jicama Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup medium ripe mango, julienne cut

1 cup jicama, julienne cut

1 small red bell pepper, julienne cut

½ cup carrots, julienne cut

2 Tbsps Fish sauce

¼ cup vinergar

Pepper to taste

2 Tbsps sugar

Procedure:
In a medium size bowl, mix all vegetables.
In a small bowl pour fish sauce, sugar, pepper and vinegar. Mix well
Pour over vegetables, mix until well blended
Keep chilled in the fridge until serving time.

Asado with Jicama

Ingredients:

1 kilo pork, cubed
2 tbsps. soy sauce
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. minced ginger
2 tbsps. oyster sauce
1 singkamas, cut into strips

PROCEDURE:
Marinate the pork in soy sauce, garlic, ginger and oyster sauce for a few minutes.
Braise in a pan together with the singkamas.
Cook until pork is very tender.

JICAMA (SINGKAMAS)

pinoytimes.ca © 2009