How To Cook and Eat Kohl Rabi

Posted on 12. Sep, 2011 by Tracey in Veg Plot

Following on from my last post ‘Growing KohlRabi – Monster of all Vegetables‘ and the comment from Mark at The Smallholders Diary for recipe ideas for Kohl Rabi, here is my very first cooking and tasting session.

I labelled Kohl Rabi as a monster vegetable in my last post and if you’ve not come across this vegetable before it is a cross between a cabbage and turnip. In the vegetable garden it does look a bit monsterous with its leaf tenticles and bulbous bulb. Now after 2 months growth, the proof is in the eating as they say.

Harvesting Kohl Rabi

To harvest the kohl rabi plant, just pull it out of the ground, roots and all, by gripping the bulb for leverage. To cut the roots off, use a kitchen knife and make a cut at the base of the bulb as this is easier than trying to cut off the root stem which is very stringy and tough.

Preparing the Kohl Rabi

Kohl Rabi in the Veg Garden

Firstly remove the leaf stems at the bulb with a knife and put the leaves aside for cooking like spinach as the whole of the kohl rabi plant can be eaten.

Kohl rabi is easy to prepare for cooking which suprised me as the outer bulb skin looks thick and feels like rubber however the (old) potato peeler had no trouble removing the outer layer. Then top and tail the bulb with a knife, this glides into the soft bulb with no effort.

The kohl rabi flat bottom globe can now be sliced, diced or cut into batons to cook. The middle can also be scouped out and stuffed with your choice of veggie or meat filling. 

I opted for cutting into batons and sauting in a knob of butter, splash of olive oil and chopped up shallots also from the veg garden, harvested in July this year.

Fry for about three minutes, then add any other vegetables, I’ve added some chopped runner beans also from the veg garden. Then add a small amount of vegetable stock to the frying pan. This helps the kohl rabi and runner beans to absorb the liquid and soften quickly but still retaining their crunch.

After about 4-6 minutes, the water will have evaporated and you can brown off the vegtables if you wish. Put the kohl rabi leaves in the frying pan and use the heat from the pan to cook it through like spinach. After a minute or so, turn out onto a plate with fish or meat to serve.

What does Kohl Rabi taste like?

I thought it tasted like crunchy cabbage which is was very nice. Even my other half, who’s whole vegetable diet only consists of carrots, cabbage and green beans absolutely loved kohl rabi raw. It can be eaten raw or grated into salads.

Will I grow it again?

Yes definately, my whole experience with Kohl rabi has been a good one and also a bonus I love the taste. I found myself wondering why supermarkets didn’t sell them, but I’m quite glad they don’t as I can grow them myself knowing where they have come from and also its part of the glory of growing vegetables when you can grow a vegetable or variety that isn’t shipped hundred of miles accross oceans just to be in our supermarkets.

• Kohl Rabi in the Veg Garden

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  Kohl Rabi Harvest

• Harvested Kohl Rabi and Box of Beans

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  Kohl Rabi Harvest

• 1. Cut the leaves off the bulb

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  Preparing the Kohl Rabi for Cooking

• 2. Bulb remaining without leaves

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  Preparing the Kohl Rabi for Cooking

• 3. Peel the hard skin off the Kohl Rabi Bulb

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  Preparing the Kohl Rabi for Cooking

• 4. Cut the Kohl Rabi bulb into slices or batons

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  Preparing the Kohl Rabi for Cooking

• 5. Chop up shallots, green beans and Kohl Rabi leaves

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  Preparing the Kohl Rabi for Cooking

• 6. Place butter and a little oil in a frying pan

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  Cooking the Kohl Rabi

• 7. Add the vegetables and a little veg stock and simmer

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  Cooking the Kohl Rabi

• 8. When the veg has softened, put on a plate to eat.

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  Eating the Kohl Rabi

If you want to try growing your own Kohl Rabi, try my growing guide here.

For a few other Kohl Rabi cooking ideas, try
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s recipes.

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Tags: cooking kohl rabi, eat and cook kohlrabi, growing kohl rabi, harvesting kohl rabi, how to cook kohl rabi, How To Grow, kohl rabi recipes, turnip cabbage monster vegetable