Herb. No. 201 · Malvaceae
West African origin; a heat crop of the American South, India, and the Caribbean.
Native · Africa
Native Also grown
LegalGentleplant
Okra
Abelmoschus esculentus
Fruit & vegetableHarvestCompanions
A West African mallow whose young pods silk a stew — the Southern pot crop that hates the cold.
Okra is a heat-loving mallow, likely West African, that the American South made into gumbo. Traditional African, Indian (bhindi), and Caribbean kitchens eat the young pod. Culinary amounts are the path. The mucilage is the point in a stew and the complaint in a salad. Pick every day or they wood.
Flavor
Green, a little hibiscus, slippery when cooked wet. Roasted, it behaves.
Parts used
Young pod
Helpful
- Loves heat
- A true Southern crop
Cautions
- Woody if you skip a day
- Cool summers sulk
- Spines on some varieties