North Croatian Kohlrabi Stew
This is a very old recipe I usually eat in spring. It is important to use fresh and baby kohlrabi. If the kohlrabi is old and big you will have wooden parts inside. It is also important to use fresh kohlrabi; the longer you store it, the better chance you have of it becoming woody.
This is a very old recipe I usually eat in spring. It is important to use fresh and baby kohlrabi. If the kohlrabi is old and big you will have wooden parts inside. It is also important to use fresh kohlrabi; the longer you store it, the better chance you have of it becoming woody.
- Carbohydrate 12.1026912484881 g
- Cholesterol 11.79 mg
- Fat 6.91392249998058 g
- Fiber 4.8961873818548 g
- Protein 4.25466874979533 g
- Saturated Fat 3.46159406249693 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (275g)
- Sodium 46.6516249999604 mg
- Sugar 7.20650386663327 g
- Trans Fat 0.393375937493561 g
- Calories 120 calories
Step-by-step
- Peel kohlrabi like you peel apples. Remove leaves (don’t throw away baby leaves, you can slice them and put into stew later) and cut kohlrabi like you cut potato for French fry potato, but just little bit thicker.
- Melt lard (or butter) in a pot, add flour and sauté it 1 minute. Add water and make creamy liquid. Add sliced kohlrabi and add water to cover the vegetable. Add salt and pepper and baby leaves if you want. Cook about 30 minutes or until kohlrabi softens. At the end add sour cream, stir well and serve.
Selecting young kohlrabi with a diameter under three inches prevents fibrous, lignified vascular bundles from ruining the texture of the finished dish. Older specimens develop tough, woody cellulose layers that fail to soften during the standard thirty-minute simmer. Peeling requires removing the fibrous outer skin completely, similar to paring an apple, since residual skin retains an unpleasant stringiness. Fat choice directly dictates flavor development when creating the initial roux. Lard provides animal lipids that melt completely at body temperature, yielding a savory mouthfeel, whereas unsalted butter introduces milk solids that can brown faster and scorch during the one-minute flour saute. Whisking all-purpose flour directly into the melted fat for sixty seconds cooks out the raw starch taste without allowing the roux to darken into a blonde or brown stage. Incorporating cold water gradually into the hot fat-flour mixture prevents lump formation by dispersing the starch granules evenly before gelatinization occurs. Simmering the sliced vegetables in liquid until fork-tender breaks down the pectin matrix holding the cell walls together. Stirring sour cream into the pot only after removing the vessel from direct heat prevents the dairy proteins from curdling under high temperatures. Using white ground pepper instead of black pepper maintains a clean, uniform color profile throughout the pale broth without introducing dark flecks.
