Sunchokes
HANDLING: Rinse sunchokes under cold water, scrubbing gently with a brush if dirt fills the cracks in the skin. Whether you eat them raw or cooked, you may want to leave the skin on. The skin is thin and nutritious and, during cooking, retains nutrients and holds the tuber together. If you want to remove the skin, you’ll find it relatively easy to slip off after cooking. Remember that contact with the air causes the flesh of raw sunchokes to discolor, so soak sliced or skinned raw tubers briefly in a mixture of 2 tablespoons lemon juice and one quart of water.
CULINARY USES: Be careful not to leave sunchokes unattended when cooking because they can abruptly go from firm and tender to mushy. Also, don’t cook cut or peeled sunchokes in aluminum or iron cookware as it discolors the flesh. Like potatoes, sunchokes complement many other flavors. Use raw, sliced, or julienned sunchokes in salads or on trays with other raw veggies.
Steam, boil, bake, or mash sunchokes with butter or olive oil and lemon juice as you would potatoes. Disguise them by mashing them and using them to thicken soups or stews.
Make sunchoke French fries.
Slice sunchokes 1/4 inch thick and saute in oil with salt until lightly browned or stir-fry them.
Roast whole sunchokes alone or with other root vegetables in a 425 oven until tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
Make a sunchoke soup. Excellent!
Recipes below.
Sunchoke Recipes
Savoy Cabbage and Sunchoke Pizza
Shaved Sunchoke Salad with Parmesan and Arugula
Sunchoke and Kale Hash with Farro
Sunchoke and Sweet Potato Gratin