For the Love of Yacon
Gaby and I have fallen in love with Yacon, because of Jicama and here is the short version:
“The Slanted Door” in San Francisco was the perfect venue for our very belated honeymoon, recommended by friends, who had their wedding dinner there. Chef Charles Phan’s menu is Vietnamese street food up scaled with ingredients from Californian farmers markets with beautiful renditions of Vietnamese classics! Tasting the Jicama and Grapefruit Salad, all we wanted to do on our return was to grow Jicama! Well, we tried and failed and finally adapted the recipe using Yacon instead!
What is Yacon?
I came across Yacon as early as 2001, because my colleague Klaus Laitenberger, then head gardener at The Organic Centre, did grow the tuber successfully in one of the polytunnels. It grew without problems, was very prolific and tasted great eaten raw, but at the time, we didn’t really know what to do with it. Yacon, also known as Peruvian ground apple, originates in the Andes and was one of the Inca vegetables. Inspired by our culinary experiences while travelling in California in 2009, we now grow them in our polytunnel in Cliffony as huge plants, nearly 1.5m high and we give each plant a square meter of space.
How to grow?
Yacon plants are quite sensitive to temperature and based on our experience grow best in a polytunnel or glasshouse. They are grown from a knobbly tuber (see source below) clustering around the stalk producing large, smooth tubers away from the knobbly centre. These are the edible tubers and we usually harvest between 7 and 12 of them from one plant between 15 and 25cm in length. They grow best in fertile and free draining soil and we give them plenty of compost when replanting the knobbly tubers early in the year. We store them after harvesting around Christmas in a bucket in sand. While growing they don’t need anything except regular watering.
Harvesting tip: Yacon tubers develop into autumn and winter and we leave them in the ground until frosty weather approaches and the leaves are withered by the cold. Most years we harvest a week before Christmas.
Yacon is a superfood
I am aware that the word superfood is used in an inflationary way, yet Yacon root fibre is a prebiotic that aids digestion and promotes the growth of beneficial probiotic bacteria in the gut, while inhibiting toxic bacteria. It can help treating certain types of colitis. It’s creating quite a buzz among nutritionists because of the unusual way it stores its carbohydrates as inulin rather than starch making it an ideal food for diabetics .
Yacon is best eaten raw
"Yacon" means "watery root" in the Inca language and so is refreshingly juicy with a lemony taste and a texture similar to an apple. Try it thinly sliced with lemon juice and honey. Yacon also can be stir-fried, roasted, baked or made into pies and healthy chips, but we like it best in a raw salad.
Recipe:
Yacon, Red Cabbage and Grapefruit Salad
This recipe is based on a recipe by Charles Phan of The Slanted Door, who uses Jicama, adapted by Gaby Wieland for Yacon.
2 cups shredded red cabbage
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp tamari sauce (wheat-free soy sauce)
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey or agave syrup
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 small chili pepper, minced, or dried red pepper flakes, to taste
1 lime, freshly juiced
cup shredded yacon root, peeled
1/2 cup shredded carrot (optional)
2 teaspoons olive or toasted sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups coarsely chopped mint leaves
1/4 cup chopped candied pecans or walnuts (optional)
2 grapefruits, segmented, tough membrane removed
Place cabbage in a bowl and cover with salted water. Set aside. Combine tamari sauce, vinegar, honey or agave syrup, garlic, chili, and lime juice. Add more lime juice to taste
In a large bowl, combine shredded yacon, carrots, and oil. Drain cabbage and massage it with your hands or pound in bowl with wooden stomper. Toss cabbage with yacon mixture, then with soy dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste. Divide among 4 plates and top with mint, nuts, and grapefruit. Enjoy!
Makes 4 servings as a side salad
Source of Yacon tubers for planting: www.fruithillfarm.com