This article was co-authored by Andrea Lawson Gray. Andrea Lawson Gray is a Private Chef and the Co-Founder of Private Chefs of the SF Bay. With more than ten years of experience, she specializes in Mexican cuisine and culinary history. Chef Andrea is also the author of Celebraciones Mexicanas: History, Traditions, and Recipes, an award-winning cookbook.
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Jicama is a delicious tuber vegetable with a sweet, nutty flavor and a great crunch! Purchase jicama at a grocery store, organic food store, or anywhere that imports produce from Central America. Cutting jicama is easy if you have a good, sharp knife. You can use jicama in recipes or eat it raw for a healthy snack.
Steps
Preparing Jicama
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1Clean the jicama. Run the jicama under a stream of cold water for a minute to rinse it. Use a paper towel to thoroughly rub the vegetable. Dry the jicama.[1]
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2Slice of the top and bottom of the jicama. Set out a clean cutting board. Gently cut off a slice from the top and bottom of the jicama. Rest the vegetable on the broader end, sitting up.[2]Advertisement
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3Remove the skin with a sharp knife. Use a sharp knife to peel the jicama, as the tough skin will be difficult for an ordinary vegetable peeler to handle. Working from the top to bottom, slide your knife under the surface of the jicama to remove the skin. Continue around the entire surface of the vegetable until all of the skin is removed.[3]
- You can use a vegetable peeler to run over the skinned jicama and remove any tiny spots of skin that remain.
Cutting Jicama
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1Cut the jicama into round, flat pieces. Cut a piece off the bottom of your jicama to make sure that it has a large, flat surface to lie flat on while you cut it. Start from the side and cut large, round pieces of jicama. Each slice should be about a quarter of an inch (approximately 0.7 cm) thick.[4]
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2Turn the jicama over halfway through to keep cutting. Once you have cut halfway through the jicawa, turn it over to rest on its largest, flattest surface. Continue to cut large pieces, about a quarter of an inch (approximately 0.7 cm) thick. Gather the large jicawa pieces once you are done. [5]
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3Cut the jicama into long, fry-shaped sticks. Carefully brace pieces of jicama with the opposite hand and use your knife to cut the jicama into long sticks. Aim for the pieces to be a quarter of an inch (approximately 0.7 cm) thick all around. Serve these sticks raw, or coat them in oil and bake them in the oven to make jicama "fries."[6]
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4Use a mandoline to cut the jicama into matchsticks. Cut your peeled jicama into quarters or halves. Use a mandoline to cut very thin pieces (approximately an eighth of an inch, or about 0.3 cm, thick) of the vegetable. Using a sharp knife, cut these pieces into matchsticks of equal width.[7]
- You can also use a mandoline to simply cut thin, wide pieces of jicama.
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5Dice jicama. Once you have cut your jicama into long sticks (either thicker, fry-shaped pieces or small matchsticks) dicing them is easy. Use your knife to cut across the sticks of jicama, gently bracing them with your other hand. Cut uniform pieces that can be used to make salsa or other treats.[8]
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6Shred jicama. Shredded jicama can be a great addition to coleslaw and salads. Peel and cut a jicama into quarters with a sharp knife. Run each quarter over a box grater to shred it.[9]
- Dab the shredded jicama to remove excess moisture before adding it to your recipe to keep it from clumping together.
Expert Q&A
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QuestionDoes jicama need to be cooked?
Randall ChambersRandall (Randy) Chambers is a Personal Chef and the Owner of Luxury Meals From Home based in Arvada, Colorado. He has more than 16 years of commercial kitchen experience, five years of sous chef experience, and two years of experience as an executive chef. Chef Randy draws inspiration from his half Bolivian background and his forte is South American cuisine. He holds an Associate’s degree in Culinary Arts from The Art Institute.
Personal ChefNot at all! If you want to, you can thinly slice it and parboil it for a minute so you can bend it in different shapes and fill it with different stuffings.
References
- ↑ https://mexicanfoodjournal.com/how-to-peel-jicama/
- ↑ https://www.thekitchn.com/jicama-most-exciting-vegetable-youre-not-eating-the-vegetable-butcher-220006
- ↑ https://www.thekitchn.com/jicama-most-exciting-vegetable-youre-not-eating-the-vegetable-butcher-220006
- ↑ http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/everyday-chef-how-to-peel-and-cut-jicama/
- ↑ http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/everyday-chef-how-to-peel-and-cut-jicama/
- ↑ http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/everyday-chef-how-to-peel-and-cut-jicama/
- ↑ https://www.thekitchn.com/jicama-most-exciting-vegetable-youre-not-eating-the-vegetable-butcher-220006
- ↑ https://www.thekitchn.com/jicama-most-exciting-vegetable-youre-not-eating-the-vegetable-butcher-220006
- ↑ https://www.cleaneatingmag.com/recipes/spicy-jicama-slaw
About This Article
To cut jicama, start by rinsing it under cold water and drying it with a paper towel. Then, slice the tops and bottoms off, and rest the jicama on the wider end so it sits up. Use a sharp knife to peel the jicama, as the thick skin could damage a peeler, and follow up with a vegetable peeler to remove any missed spots. To make jicama sticks, cut the jicama into flat ¼ inch pieces, and then cut those into long strips. For diced jicama, cut the sticks into smaller cubes to use in dishes like salsa. For more ways to cut jicama, like shredding for salads, keep reading!
