Source: 青髪のテツ Tetsu (@tetsublogorg) - image used with permission
Have you been cooking okra wrong? Japanese store clerk shares surprising tip
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Okra is a vegetable that's very popular during summer when it's in season. Japan is no exception.
Although there are many ways of preparing it around the world, one way which is usually considered healthy is boiling it in water. In Japanese cuisine, boiled okra is usually sliced and seasoned with things like soy sauce or yuzu-soy ponzu sauce and topped with dried bonito shavings, etc.
Okra trivia
Since the name of the vegetable sounds like it could be a Japanese word (for example, it's homophonous with 小倉 Okura, the family name famous for the Hotel Okura), some Japanese people even think it's native to the country even though it originated in West Africa, Ethiopia, South Asia or Southeast Asia, depending on the theory you believe.
However, as counterintuitive as it may seem, when it comes to cooking your okra, boiling is actually not the healthiest way.
青髪のテツ Tetsu (@tetsublogorg), a clerk in charge of the produce corner at a Japanese supermarket, introduced his health tip on "how to eat okra" and it got noticed on Twitter.
How to cook okra without losing nutrients
"When cooking okra...do not boil it!"
What a surprise! He recommends heating okra in the microwave instead!
Request
When it comes to cooking okra...
Please don't boil it!!!
Please don't boil it!!!
Please don't boil it!!!
When okra is boiled, its nutritional components such as pectin and vitamins leach out into the hot water!
You can microwave it for a minute at 600 W! Okra is best when you zap it!!
Reproduced with permission from 青髪のテツ Tetsu (@tetsublogorg)
People who read the post left comments such as, "I didn't know about this and have been boiling it all my life..." and "You mean I've been boiling my okra in this summer heat when I didn't have to? This method is cooler and better."
Tetsu posts useful tips like this on vegetables and fruits on his blog. If you're interested, and you can read Japanese, have a look!
tetsublog