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I'm a little stumped when it comes to kohlrabi. It’s a turnip that grows above the ground, with wispy spindles of stems and a face not even a mother could love. Yet I can't stop running into it everywhere.
Kohlrabi is definitely having a moment. Chefs across the country are freaking out over kohlrabi for its versatility and finding some remarkable ways to transform what's actually a very utilitarian vegetable.
"With kohlrabi you can do it all," says chef Sean Rembold of Reynard in NYC, and he's right. At Reynard, Rembold pre-roasts the kohlrabi and then finishes it in a basket rested directly on top of embers with amberjack, a pale and pink fish of the yellowtail family.
Chef Amanda Cohen of NYC’s Dirt Candy uses kohlrabi as a noodle, spiralizing the brassica into spaghetti shapes before tossing it into a purple cabbage salad with walnut-orange dressing and candied walnuts. Stephanie Izard of Chicago’s Girl & The Goat makes a salad of shaved kohlrabi with fennel fronds, toasted almonds, blueberries, and plenty of Evalon (a goat’s cheese). At his Somerville, Massachusetts wine bar and bistro Spoke, chef John DaSilva serves a barbecue softshell crab with julienned and pickled kohlrabi.
You could and should be eating this all the time, in restaurants and at home. But where do you even start with this crazy looking thing? Here's how to use the vegetable just like the pros.
Because it’s sown in both fall and spring and takes only 50-65 days to go from seed to harvest, you can easily get your kohlrabi fix at pretty much any time of year. The smaller, the better—overgrown bulbs are going to be on the coarser side. Look for a tennis ball-sized bulb weighing around four ounces. The bulbs should also feel heavy for their size. And, bonus, the younger/smaller bulbs are easier to eat, no peeling required.
The chef-fy stuff is great and everything, but are you really going to be spinning vegetables after a long spinning class or slow-cooking a kohlrabi bulb with butter for a weeknight dinner? Whether pungently pickled in vinegar, fried to a crisp, or sweetened with sugar, there's nothing you can't do with kohlrabi. But I like to keep it simple.
You could seriously just peel the crazy stems, sprinkle this with salt, and eat it as is, preferably over the sink. Or try the slice-and-dice method. Take a cue from Amy Thielen, author of The New Midwestern Table, who puts cut kohlrabi on ice. Once iced, kohlrabi takes on a crisp tenderness that’s more like an apple than a turnip. Serve it as you would a crudité.
Deborah Madison, author of Vegetable Literacy, also prefers using kohlrabi raw, which makes it even better for the hot summer. After julienning kohlrabi bulbs, she'll pair them with raw sliced mustard greens.
Get Cooking
Kohlrabi lends itself to just as many cooked applications. For a puree, cut up the bulb into a 1/2" dice and boil for 14-16 minutes. Pass it through a potato ricer and swirl in the butter for a more refreshing take on mashed potatoes.
Steaming is just as easy: bring water to a boil in a stock pot, place diced kohlrabi into a steamer basket above it, and cover and cook until tender about 45 minutes.
Roasting kohlrabi brings out its earthiness and makes it super tender. To roast trimmed and diced kohlrabi, toss the vegetable with oil and thyme and roast at 450°F for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Use It All
The stems are great: try dicing up the stalks like beet stems and cooking them down with red wine and sugar to make a marmalade (hello, kohlrabi toast).
The blueish leafy tops are completely edible—saute them like you would collards and kale. Some garlic and red pepper flakes do the trick in amping up the mild vegetable.
Like radish slices on your taco? I’ve even seen some out-there takes on kohlrabi that use large and thin rounds of the bulb like tortillas to give taco fillings some extra bite.
"It might look like this gnarly thing on the outside; on the inside, it's a crystal white vegetable with possibilities," says DaSilva, "It's a sponge waiting for the right person."
