How to Use Fresh, Local Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi may be an unfamiliar vegetable to many, but it's a favorite among farmers and a real workhorse in the kitchen.

One question that’s often asked at our farmers markets is how to prepare the lesser-known vegetable varieties that arrive throughout the season, and if I had to choose what piques people’s curiosity the most, kohlrabi would be at the top of the list.

With its oddball appearance and fairly new popularity, kohlrabi might be everywhere at markets right now, but it’s still stumping shoppers. In my kitchen, kohlrabi is a workhorse, serving as a substitute for ingredients too difficult to find in Tennessee. So, as a former expat in Thailand, here are two great ways to put it to good use.

Visually speaking, kohlrabi may seem intimidating, but the origin of this vegetable is far from exotic. As a member of the plant family Brassicaceae, it derives from the same wild mustard plant that gave rise to broccoli, cabbage and collard greens, making it familiar in flavor and approachable in preparation. With a mild turnipy taste and crisp appley crunch, kohlrabi shines when raw in a slaw, fried into fritters or roasted in the oven.

But also, I find kohlrabi to be a perfectly delightful substitute for green papaya when pounded into a snappy tam-style salad.