My dad loves these, but the ones he ate had spikes on them and when I was really young he'd call me chayote because my hair was short and stuck out like the spikes.
I've heard much about this legendary apple-chayote pie... but I've never seen one. Apples are so cheap and plentiful, using chayote as a filler doesn't make much sense?
Fun fact for anyone that grows plants: the "chayote" isn't grown from a typical seed, instead you must bury the entire fruit and allow it to sprout. If you try to grow it from the (usually) single seed inside it will likely fail or rot in the ground.
Here in Australia my grandmother would grow these on wires in the backyard, we called them Chokos. She would boil them till well past soft, (thats how she cooked everything) and they would be served as a vegetable for dinner. Bland and texturally uninspiring, but generally inoffensive.
@@williamcrocker951 fry your shrimp in garlic, and seafood seasonings then add your pre boiled Chokos cubed not so soft into your seasoned shrimp and gently stir. Enjoy!!!🥰 By the way in New Orleans where I'm from we call the green ones Merliton...pronounced Mellitons in some areas of Louisiana. Holidays this is how we prepare them. ➡️ Go to Charlie Andrews on Utube ➡️ How to prepare Merlitons. 🥰
These grow here too. From Uganda. To be exact, the white ones. And its hilarious hearing you say its like biting into an apple. This fruit is literally like eating the white of a water melon[ if its young and tender] and quite like a starchy tuber in texture when over ripe. Another fun fact, its sap[ very clear in colour] is a pain to remove from your hands after cutting through it. Ohh and we peel off the cover of the fruit as its not edible and quite hard especially if its overgrown.
Yes... The tasteless veggie, this grows like a plague and produce a lot. My mom likes to boil it, then season with vinegar, olive oil, salt and oregano to eat as salad. Some bake it with some filling.
I live in Taiwan. Here, chayote greens are a very common dish, and the fruits are eaten as well, but much less often. I love both. You can basically chuck a chayote into any kind of dish where'd you'd use any other chopped vegetable.
I eat this often in my Mexican household in Southern California. None of us have ever ate it raw. I also think it tastes like potato but once you boil it. Usually we put it in soups and stews. Many times we simply boil it and serve it as a side with salt and pepper.
In New Orleans, they call it “Mirliton”and my mother in law makes it with shrimp and butter and onion. A simple thing but it’s very good. Another classic way to cook it here is to stuff it with seafood and breadcrumbs and bake it.
A friend gave me a spiky green chayote. I planted, and it fruited white. Planted white and fruited white as well. The white one you’re holding is about ready to sprout! Can cut them julienne, pickled to eat raw. When cooked with skin the texture remains firm longer than peeling then cooking.
I love chayotes. I usually use them in coconut-curry dishes. I just dice them into chunks and toss them in with the other vegetables. I make a shrimp curry dish that has onion, red bell pepper, chayote, and plantains. It’s all simmered in coconut milk with some red curry paste, adding the shrimp just before serving so they don’t overcook. The combination of the chayote with the plantain is superb.
In Vietnam we cook this fruit as a vegetable but they are usually harvested when the fruit is just forming and the seeds are small, when the fruit is cooked it will have a mild sweetness and similar to a squash.
We have a joke on Brazil that when a person has absolute no remarkable characteristics (hence "flavourless"), we call them "chayote ice pop". It was popularized as a nickname for one of our state governors.
In indonesia it called labu siam/labu jepang or sayur labu. You could peel the skin and cut it to long stick/julienne and stir fried it with salt,MSG, white pepper powder (can add shrimp, egg etc, or you could just go to original without shrimp or egg) When stir fried dont cook it too long, it's easy to get overcooked and have mushy texture Or you could steam it however it better eat the steam chayote with indonesia sambal (dont peel the skin and just cut bigger because for steam). For people want to try eating it raw, you must buy smaller chayotes, because it's younger and taste sweeter, and the flesh not as hard as the bigger one, and can eat it with sambal too or just chilies with soy souce as dip sauce. Bigger/old chayote better for stir fried Dont eat bigger/old chayote raw, it's almost tasteless
It is called 'skuash' in Bengali language and my mom makes a "dalna" (Soupy curry) , bhaja (stir fried chayote with Nigella seeds, green chillies, salt and sugar) and skuash posto (fried chayote with poppy seed paste) with this.
please make a youtube channel and share more bengali recipes this sounds insane !!! i am always trying to try obscure south asian cuisines but it’s hard to find recipes
My mother bought a mixed box of veggies online a few months ago and there were a couple chayote in the box. She had no idea what they were and gave them to me, I've been eating them ever since, they're great!
Thanks for taking us along with you! I almost felt like I just arrived there, and could imagine your experience of wanting something hearty to eat. I could imagine how it tasted and how satisfying it would be after a long day. Your adventures seem like so much fun, I'm glad you're sharing them!
Also called militon, normally stuffed with shrimp dressing or beef it is a classic for holiday dinners in South Louisiana, The ones you don't finish on thanksgiving dinners end up being lunch until the fresher batch is made for christmas dinner.
I live in Costa Rica and I'm ready for you to show me all the fruits/vegetables that i have never seen before over here lol - People that live in the GAM ( metropolitan area) which is where most people live btw - Have a more "european" or "american" kind of diet, which is based in more dairy, meat and less vegetable/fruit diet (so no surprises there). However, if you go to all the coastal/rural areas of the country, this is where you'll find people eating all sort of exotic fruits/vegetables. Great video btw!
These are key ingredients in my homemade chanterelle mushroom pot pies. With true traditional gravy stock & carmalized onions, then a rosemary/tarragon salted whole wheat crust. The second flavour tone of the chayote in sweetness pairs amazing with the onions & balances out the umami from the mushrooms. Alot of people use apples for chanterelle pot pies for the same reason but chayote offers a far superior flavour balance & texture that doesn't over power the mushrooms like apples often do.
add to meat stews, apparently it is used as a tenderiser, absorbs the flavour of the gravy really well, this is how I remember it as a child. Currently, I use it thinly sliced in green salads.
I grew up in Australia in the 60s and 70s. My parents were working class, so not a lot of luxury living. I remember we a huge vine growing on the back fence. It had a fruit called a choko. It had green skin and a few spikes and seeds like the one in your vlog. Mum used to cook them in boiling water and season with salt, had a squash like taste. She also used to make fake pairs. She would boil them in sugar syrup. The flesh would take up the sweet syrup taste. Always had them with ice cream.
I usually eat them raw. If I had to describe the flavor I'd call it "mildly green". They have an amazing crunch. I cut them into cubes for salad. They're usually the crunchiest thing in the bowl. With so little flavor they go with every kind of salad I've ever made, including fruit salad. Edit: Oh yeah, the seed tastes better than the flesh. When I'm cutting one up for salad, the seed is for the chef.
The green ones grow wild in NZ, we call them chokos. The fruits are not so nice as they're a bit insipid. The growing tips though, are delicious! Cook them in pasta sauce or any way you'd cook green beans or asparagus 👍🏼
@@poisontoad8007 I'll ask my relatives for young fruits and try them fried. BTW I would like to grow some pea plants (I don't have space for chayote plants). The tendrils of the pea plants are reputed to be of a delicate, nice flavor.
As mentioned by other Australians, we call it a Choko. While many people have never heard of it, older Australians tend to regard it as a poverty food as it’s exceptionally easy to grow in the northern parts of Australia ( NSW onwards ) and was used as a filler in stews, chutneys, etc. In the early days of Australia (post European invasion),it was used to make a ‘mock glacé ginger’ by boiling chunks of it in a sugar syrup flavoured with dry ginger powder ( long before Australia became a major producer of both ginger and sugar )
The green ones are a really popular vegetable here in Brazil, it doesn't have much of a flavour so some people joke it's the forth state of water, It's so flavourless sometimes people use them to make fake maraschino cherries by boiling little balls in a flavoured syrup that's dyed red, the vegetable is called "chuchu" which is also an affectionate way to call someone.
Hi. in Australia a chayote is a choko, I love them. Peel and remove the seeed. quarter and boil in salted water. drain and add butter. and pepper. Really old ones can get woody and will have a big seed, slice up the seed and cook they will taste like green beans. They are more a vegetable than a fruit. If they are boiled in fruit juice they will take on the taste of the fruit, great with pear juice the shape is right to fool kids and serve with custard.
clever! if only I had known that years ago. But I managed to get carrots in my veggie haters by shredding it and mixing it into a meatloaf. The kids never noticed. I wonder if shredded chayote would work the same? Maybe soak it in something flavorful as well to add flavor to the meatloaf? But it would have been awesome to know back years ago that boiling them in fruit juice would make the veggie haters think they were getting fruit.
I love that so many people know this one! Also that you go "I'm about to go to bed" then make a whole ass meal. I have no idea how you fit 35 fruit into a few days, but I hope you enjoyed it!
funny thing, Lizano Sauce is a type of worcestershire sauce, originaly it was known as "English Sauce" or "Salsa Inglesa", not sure if it was before or after Unilever bought Lizano that they started to market it as simply "Lizano Sauce"
In California, you can find chayote served up in Mexican soups pretty often. I love it in Mexican meatball soup. Mmm. Amazing as fall/winter comfort food. I've used it a few times in a curry too, as it holds up it's texture well and tends to take on the flavor of the sauce it is simmered in. It's a highly underrated veggie here in the states though, which is a shame, because it's easy to grow, tasty and cooks up very well for stews and such.
I use chayote as one of the squashes in calabaza con pollo. It's a nice addition to soups. Green chayote are relatively common in supermarkets here in Texas.
They work a lot like any squash, great in soups. There’s a slightly thorny variety out there as well, grew up eating these in a Mexican household, huge huge vines.
Hmm if this is in the gourd family, then I might replace squash with it or alongside squash for my three warriors succotash. I usually layer succotash squash on bottom, corn at center, and bean on top.
I was looking at that fruit going... that looks like a choko. So i googled it and turns out, same fruit different name! They're very common in Australia.
They grow here in central California as well. Friends and I back in the day after school would grab a few on the way home, chuck a few in the bbq pit to roast on the coals, and season with lemon, salt, and Valentina hot sauce.
I've seen chayote in the store here and been curious about it but not enough to buy it. Thank you for reviewing it. With your review, I'm going to try one now that I know what to expect.
In Brazil we call it Chuchu. The plant has a reputation of being so prolific that earned the motto ''Dá mais que chuchu em cerca'', meaning "Yields more that chayote on a fence" (since it is a vine) and used whenever referring to something plentiful. My household wasn't very creative with it considering the output of the plant on our backyard. Boiling it was as far as we ever got.
@@royexcellentalexander8308 Cool, I wouldn't guess that name was shared woth Jamaica! Many people do not care for this, claiming it tastes of nothing. Some will joke that chuchu is the 4th stage of water. Liquid, solid, vapor and chuchu.
A vegetable, definitely and never eaten uncooked. Used in soups, stews, with pot-roasted meats;pork!!, beef and even fish and yes, curry. Called Chocho, it serves as a meat tenderiser. We prefer to use it when less mature without the 'grow' at the base. So enjoy!! Greeting you from Jamaica, West Indies.🤗
we usually just boil them cut open and eat with a spoon its bomb we usually get the spiky one we have them here in the us aswell i usually get em at mexican markets i think the potato taste comes out more after boiling
In Australia we call these Choko's. Every farm had these growing and you can't even find them away. Absolutely tasteless! In fact there was a furphy going around that McDonald's Apple Pies contained Chokos
I bought a vegan cookbook with some unfamiliar ingredients like chayote in it, but I've been too scared to try unusual veggies/fruits.. so thank you for letting me experience chayote vicariously through you
It's a great survival plant. Generous and low mantainance once established (though that part takes care). The younger and smaller the fruit, the easier it is to eat the skin and seed (as well as peel and cut). The older bigger fruits give more flesh but it's more likely you'll want to remove the tougher skin (easier after boiling). You can tell by size and by how much the seed is popping out the butt (notice the difference in the video).
Chayote pears! In SA we call them Shushu's because some have soft hairs that look like thorns and ShuShu slang for ouch (or directly translated to hot hot). We slice and sautee them in garlic butter. Please try it simply sauteed with garlic, butter, salt and pepper. Great side dish or even on crispy Italian bread or french loaf . You can also fry some with some onions in a little bit of oil with Indian Curry paste, add veg broth and puree with a little milk or cream till smooth and silky. Delicious!Blessings. PS the seeds add great texture to stir-fry and Ramen.
@@J.T323 hulle is baie lekker. Kyk net dat dit ShuShu is en nie Jode piesangs nie. Die Shushu sal nie wit melk binne hê nie. Nie giftig nie maar dit proe nie lekker nie. Shushu sal 'n sagte pit in he en solied wees binne.
Awesome video! I’ve actually had this one before and I cooked it in enchiladas. You’re absolutely right! It’s great the way they retain some texture even fully cooked.
I live in a super multicultural area, and the grocery stores here always have wild, unusual fruits and vegetables. When I see something I've never really noticed before, I have to buy it and eat it and/or see if I can grow it. This spring I came home one day with 4 varieties of squash I'd never seen before, and Chayote were the only ones that turned out to be viable. Tossed 2 of those bad boys in a cardboard box and forgot about them on a shelf for a month, and they sprouted like potatoes from the "butt crack". They're growing like crazy in my garden right now, I'm excited. I really hope our growing season in BC will be long enough for them to produce fruit :^)
I was given one for the 1st time this week. Looking it up for a recipe I saw it is used in Vietnamese food. I picked a Vietnamese beef stir fry to make and it was fabulous. I preferred the choco to zucchini that people say it is like. My friend tells me it used to be in maccas apple pies which makes sense as it would hold its form while the apple mushes around it.
My uncle absolutely loves these. There was a point where he wouldn't go a full week without eating something made with it. One of my most common uses for it is to simply slice, batter, and deep fry. The batter I use is simple -- besan (AKA chick pea flour or gram flour), some small amount of rice flour for crispiness, chili powder, salt, and water. Basically the same as a lot of bhaji/pakora batters.
I love this fruit (I always thought of it as a vegetable), my mum is from Angola, and she always made this. We ate this in stews with rice or funge (it’s similar to polenta but made with casava flour or corn flour)! It’s so nice and it creates a nice creamy sauce. I’m glad to see a video of this wonderful fruit! I recommend everyone to try it! We call it Xuxu in Portuguese.
I loved this episode so much. I was excited to hear your take on something I'm familiar with. I was not prepared for you to spank the naughty fruit. I died laughing. Surprised you didn't notice the astringency in the skin, for that reason it's usually peeled here in California. Maybe regional? Also, some seeds have a delicate fruit flavor, like a faint whiff of jackfruit. Others are nutty, and others are bland. I encourage you to enter the chayote seed lottery more often.
I live in California too and all the chayote seeds I have tasted have a nutty flavor. Not complaining but I would like also to sample those ones with frutal flavors.
Finally tried this! Excellent, crisp texture. Juicy, with a flavour kind of like green bean or snap pea. I've seen them at the store and my curiosity got me to take the plunge - will buy again!
My wife is from Honduras and she always cooks peeled and sliced chayote in chicken soup. it’s delicious 😋 it give texture to the dish and a little flavor goes really well with carrots.
I've only ever seen the green chayote before, but I've come across them around Toronto and bought a couple once. I stir-fried each one up, one with some chili and one with some other seasoning, I forget exactly what I fried them up with. Like you said, the flavour was really mild nothing that stood out specifically - if I had to name a flavour, it would be astringent like star fruit. The most appealing aspect for me was the texture, an apple like texture, or perhaps like a less crispy water chestnut or lotus root. The same way people put apple in salads, this would be a great way to get the same texture without adding the sweetness of the apple. And you nailed it, they absolutely have butts.
So cool! Excited for the upcoming vids :D Also your pronunciation is just fine, though the obligatory "probably saying that wrong" is at this point a trademark of yours x)
chayote is often stir fried with garlic in vietnam. maybe it's just only me but i find chayote and kohlrabi having some very weird flavors when overcooked a bit (beside being mushy).
My mom who was born in the Philippines makes a dish called Tinola which is a ginger and onion soup with chicken that has vegetables like moringa leaves or bokchoy and green chayote. It’s really delicious and one of my comfort foods!
Every time we go to Brazil for shows i get these. Xuxu down there. Usually had it with ground beef, garlic, and just salt. Using the beef to flavor everything
Slice, steam, add salt, butter and grated Parmesan and it is delicious and delicate. Love it with salmon or other fish. Great in soups but added near the end of cooking. It is also used to make "mock apple pie".
My grandmother used to make it into a gratin with an onion white sauce and buttered bread crumbs on top and browned in the oven until bubbly. A bit like a Mac and cheese but no mac and no cheese. She Only made it at Christmas time!! Special dish!!
Hi Jared, we call that a Choko here in Australia, you can just buy them at the supermarket, one of my favourite veggies. :) I have grown up eating them there a great filler and flavour carrier.
The last time i attempted to eat Chayote I tried it grilled but its so dense it didn't really cook all the way through. It kind of had the flavor of raw zucchini and spaghetti squash.
This is pretty much how I cook too. Random crap thrown together until delicious. Dad is kinda warming up to it, he used to throw a tantrum if I altered his mom's recipes in any way.
How would you cook a chayote?
I use it as a replacemt for eggplant in dishes as it cooks well and has a similar taste but doent have the slimy texture of some eggplants.
I would make a soup
rocket fuel bbq
Or caramelize it that might be interesting
Maybe grated to use in salad or marinate for pickles/kim chi or to use like green papaya... Never realized it only had a single seed !?
My dad loves these, but the ones he ate had spikes on them and when I was really young he'd call me chayote because my hair was short and stuck out like the spikes.
The spiky ones tend to be softer and taste a bit better imo
That's just a little bit adorable.
There is a local street vendor in dinuba California that sells the spiky white chayote. They are available around the fall and winter
I find the spiky chayote very simmilar to potatoes
One of my favorite veggies for sure. Just add some salt and butter and it’s done.
Chayote absorbs the flavor of whatever you cook with it. You can stretch apples for a pie by replacing some apple with chayote.
Good idea!
Exactly, its flesh can be used like potatoes but it absorbs flavour even better lol
Wait a minute
I prefer them raw. But you can really only eat so much before its flavor “sticks”
I've heard much about this legendary apple-chayote pie... but I've never seen one. Apples are so cheap and plentiful, using chayote as a filler doesn't make much sense?
Fun fact for anyone that grows plants: the "chayote" isn't grown from a typical seed, instead you must bury the entire fruit and allow it to sprout. If you try to grow it from the (usually) single seed inside it will likely fail or rot in the ground.
Here in Australia my grandmother would grow these on wires in the backyard, we called them Chokos. She would boil them till well past soft, (thats how she cooked everything) and they would be served as a vegetable for dinner. Bland and texturally uninspiring, but generally inoffensive.
I was gonna say, I thought it looked like a choko. Traditionally grown in Australian backyards but no one ever knows what to do with them. 😆
They used to use them in oz to replace apples or bulk out apple pie. Nice fried in butter with pepper and salt.
@@williamcrocker951 fry your shrimp in garlic, and seafood seasonings then add your pre boiled Chokos cubed not so soft into your seasoned shrimp and gently stir. Enjoy!!!🥰 By the way in New Orleans where I'm from we call the green ones Merliton...pronounced Mellitons in some areas of Louisiana. Holidays this is how we prepare them. ➡️ Go to Charlie Andrews on Utube ➡️ How to prepare Merlitons. 🥰
To be fair, zucchine/marrow also has no flavour, and yet European cooks have found ways to make them nice.
@@daniellenierop1738 We only eat them as vegetables in my country. I wonder how they'd be if used as extender in apple pie.
These grow here too. From Uganda. To be exact, the white ones. And its hilarious hearing you say its like biting into an apple. This fruit is literally like eating the white of a water melon[ if its young and tender] and quite like a starchy tuber in texture when over ripe. Another fun fact, its sap[ very clear in colour] is a pain to remove from your hands after cutting through it. Ohh and we peel off the cover of the fruit as its not edible and quite hard especially if its overgrown.
Yes... The tasteless veggie, this grows like a plague and produce a lot. My mom likes to boil it, then season with vinegar, olive oil, salt and oregano to eat as salad. Some bake it with some filling.
I live in Taiwan. Here, chayote greens are a very common dish, and the fruits are eaten as well, but much less often. I love both. You can basically chuck a chayote into any kind of dish where'd you'd use any other chopped vegetable.
On a cool note, in Mandarin they call the greens "dragons beard" and it's delicious.
The greens really taste better than the fruit
Nice
I need to grow some and try the greens. I don't remember eating them when I was visiting family in Taiwan. My mom always made soup with the fruit.
@@batmanphone That is correct, sir! Drinks for you.
In Brazil it's called chuchu and it's eaten mostly cooked in stews and soups, in fact I've never seen someone eating it raw here
The same in portugal, we use them like potatoes.
Also, in Brazil we use it as a cherry substitute in cake decorations, boiled in a sugar syrup with red coloring and them placed on top of cakes
Same as in Indonesia, we consider chayote as vegetables instead of fruit. We cook in coconut milk, or just saute it, or just blanch it for salad.
can you make a jelly out of it
@@ws04 you can cook it with some sugar, but it will have almost no taste at All, it too bland to cook without some flavoring
I eat this often in my Mexican household in Southern California. None of us have ever ate it raw. I also think it tastes like potato but once you boil it. Usually we put it in soups and stews. Many times we simply boil it and serve it as a side with salt and pepper.
In New Orleans, they call it “Mirliton”and my mother in law makes it with shrimp and butter and onion. A simple thing but it’s very good. Another classic way to cook it here is to stuff it with seafood and breadcrumbs and bake it.
I grew up eating these in SoCal. I just steam them in the microwave with butter, cooked, they have a lovely, mild squash flavor.
Chayote Ketchup better be coming or riot
I 2nd that
Do we need pitchforks for the riot or can we just flog him with hemp ropes?
yass
I saw green chayote in my supermarket for the first time today and went, "Huh, I wonder if Jared has reviewed these yet"
Talk about timing lol
A friend gave me a spiky green chayote. I planted, and it fruited white. Planted white and fruited white as well. The white one you’re holding is about ready to sprout! Can cut them julienne, pickled to eat raw. When cooked with skin the texture remains firm longer than peeling then cooking.
I love chayotes. I usually use them in coconut-curry dishes. I just dice them into chunks and toss them in with the other vegetables. I make a shrimp curry dish that has onion, red bell pepper, chayote, and plantains. It’s all simmered in coconut milk with some red curry paste, adding the shrimp just before serving so they don’t overcook. The combination of the chayote with the plantain is superb.
In Vietnam we cook this fruit as a vegetable but they are usually harvested when the fruit is just forming and the seeds are small, when the fruit is cooked it will have a mild sweetness and similar to a squash.
We have a joke on Brazil that when a person has absolute no remarkable characteristics (hence "flavourless"), we call them "chayote ice pop". It was popularized as a nickname for one of our state governors.
In indonesia it called labu siam/labu jepang or sayur labu. You could peel the skin and cut it to long stick/julienne and stir fried it with salt,MSG, white pepper powder (can add shrimp, egg etc, or you could just go to original without shrimp or egg)
When stir fried dont cook it too long, it's easy to get overcooked and have mushy texture
Or you could steam it however it better eat the steam chayote with indonesia sambal (dont peel the skin and just cut bigger because for steam).
For people want to try eating it raw, you must buy smaller chayotes, because it's younger and taste sweeter, and the flesh not as hard as the bigger one, and can eat it with sambal too or just chilies with soy souce as dip sauce.
Bigger/old chayote better for stir fried Dont eat bigger/old chayote raw, it's almost tasteless
It is called 'skuash' in Bengali language and my mom makes a "dalna" (Soupy curry) , bhaja (stir fried chayote with Nigella seeds, green chillies, salt and sugar) and skuash posto (fried chayote with poppy seed paste) with this.
Very interesting that it is called Skuash in Bengali language and is a relative of squash in English language. All those dishes sound great! Thanks.
please make a youtube channel and share more bengali recipes this sounds insane !!! i am always trying to try obscure south asian cuisines but it’s hard to find recipes
Nice! We grow chayote. I know butter is out for you, but we usually stir fry ours with butter, onion and some peppers. Makes an awesome side dish.
My mother bought a mixed box of veggies online a few months ago and there were a couple chayote in the box. She had no idea what they were and gave them to me, I've been eating them ever since, they're great!
Thanks for taking us along with you! I almost felt like I just arrived there, and could imagine your experience of wanting something hearty to eat. I could imagine how it tasted and how satisfying it would be after a long day. Your adventures seem like so much fun, I'm glad you're sharing them!
Also called militon, normally stuffed with shrimp dressing or beef it is a classic for holiday dinners in South Louisiana, The ones you don't finish on thanksgiving dinners end up being lunch until the fresher batch is made for christmas dinner.
Thanks for the spell check
This ❤
Starting off strong with the Dankpods music AND it being episode 621, congrats!
I live in Costa Rica and I'm ready for you to show me all the fruits/vegetables that i have never seen before over here lol - People that live in the GAM ( metropolitan area) which is where most people live btw - Have a more "european" or "american" kind of diet, which is based in more dairy, meat and less vegetable/fruit diet (so no surprises there). However, if you go to all the coastal/rural areas of the country, this is where you'll find people eating all sort of exotic fruits/vegetables. Great video btw!
These are key ingredients in my homemade chanterelle mushroom pot pies.
With true traditional gravy stock & carmalized onions, then a rosemary/tarragon salted whole wheat crust.
The second flavour tone of the chayote in sweetness pairs amazing with the onions & balances out the umami from the mushrooms.
Alot of people use apples for chanterelle pot pies for the same reason but chayote offers a far superior flavour balance & texture that doesn't over power the mushrooms like apples often do.
add to meat stews, apparently it is used as a tenderiser, absorbs the flavour of the gravy really well, this is how I remember it as a child. Currently, I use it thinly sliced in green salads.
I grew up in Australia in the 60s and 70s. My parents were working class, so not a lot of luxury living. I remember we a huge vine growing on the back fence. It had a fruit called a choko. It had green skin and a few spikes and seeds like the one in your vlog. Mum used to cook them in boiling water and season with salt, had a squash like taste. She also used to make fake pairs. She would boil them in sugar syrup. The flesh would take up the sweet syrup taste. Always had them with ice cream.
Taking a fruit that is used as a vegetable and turning it into a fruit that is used as a fruit. I'll have to try that some time :)
I am from Louisiana. I grew up eating these. We call them “Mirlitons”. We make a casserole out of them.
I knew these had an English name but I couldn't remember it until I read your comment
Have you had them pickled . We cut them up and eat them with our rice and gravy
Melly taw. With shrimp and stuff stuffed in there. I bet until age 30 I’d never heard that called anything but mirliton or Melly-taw. Cheers!
@@enriquekahn9405 mirliton is actually the French name for them. They are also called alligator pears.
@@jacih6396 In New Orleans we call avocados alligator pears not mirlitons.
I usually eat them raw. If I had to describe the flavor I'd call it "mildly green". They have an amazing crunch.
I cut them into cubes for salad. They're usually the crunchiest thing in the bowl. With so little flavor they go with every kind of salad I've ever made, including fruit salad.
Edit: Oh yeah, the seed tastes better than the flesh. When I'm cutting one up for salad, the seed is for the chef.
I eat them raw too. I'll have to try the seed... never ate that part.
The green ones grow wild in NZ, we call them chokos. The fruits are not so nice as they're a bit insipid. The growing tips though, are delicious! Cook them in pasta sauce or any way you'd cook green beans or asparagus 👍🏼
Same name in Australia boiled usually only seen the green one.
In Oaxaca, Mexico those tips and tendrils (and tender leaves) are appreciated to make "sopa de guias" (tendrils soup). I still have to try them.
@@guaycura That sounds delicious. The mature fruit are a bit plain, but try the very young fruits deep fried in light tempura 👍🏼
@@poisontoad8007 I'll ask my relatives for young fruits and try them fried. BTW I would like to grow some pea plants (I don't have space for chayote plants). The tendrils of the pea plants are reputed to be of a delicate, nice flavor.
As mentioned by other Australians, we call it a Choko. While many people have never heard of it, older Australians tend to regard it as a poverty food as it’s exceptionally easy to grow in the northern parts of Australia ( NSW onwards ) and was used as a filler in stews, chutneys, etc. In the early days of Australia (post European invasion),it was used to make a ‘mock glacé ginger’ by boiling chunks of it in a sugar syrup flavoured with dry ginger powder ( long before Australia became a major producer of both ginger and sugar )
Well said Scott
Here in the dominican they call is Tayota, and it's boiled or turned into stews here
The green ones are a really popular vegetable here in Brazil, it doesn't have much of a flavour so some people joke it's the forth state of water, It's so flavourless sometimes people use them to make fake maraschino cherries by boiling little balls in a flavoured syrup that's dyed red, the vegetable is called "chuchu" which is also an affectionate way to call someone.
Hi. in Australia a chayote is a choko, I love them. Peel and remove the seeed. quarter and boil in salted water. drain and add butter. and pepper. Really old ones can get woody and will have a big seed, slice up the seed and cook they will taste like green beans. They are more a vegetable than a fruit. If they are boiled in fruit juice they will take on the taste of the fruit, great with pear juice the shape is right to fool kids and serve with custard.
clever! if only I had known that years ago. But I managed to get carrots in my veggie haters by shredding it and mixing it into a meatloaf. The kids never noticed. I wonder if shredded chayote would work the same? Maybe soak it in something flavorful as well to add flavor to the meatloaf?
But it would have been awesome to know back years ago that boiling them in fruit juice would make the veggie haters think they were getting fruit.
I love that so many people know this one! Also that you go "I'm about to go to bed" then make a whole ass meal. I have no idea how you fit 35 fruit into a few days, but I hope you enjoyed it!
funny thing, Lizano Sauce is a type of worcestershire sauce, originaly it was known as "English Sauce" or "Salsa Inglesa", not sure if it was before or after Unilever bought Lizano that they started to market it as simply "Lizano Sauce"
In California, you can find chayote served up in Mexican soups pretty often. I love it in Mexican meatball soup. Mmm. Amazing as fall/winter comfort food. I've used it a few times in a curry too, as it holds up it's texture well and tends to take on the flavor of the sauce it is simmered in. It's a highly underrated veggie here in the states though, which is a shame, because it's easy to grow, tasty and cooks up very well for stews and such.
Chayote is called chow chow in my part of the world! It's cooked with tamarind and chilli and spices into a kuzhambu to have with rice.
Here in Australia these are known as a Choko.
cho cho in Jamaica
I use chayote as one of the squashes in calabaza con pollo. It's a nice addition to soups. Green chayote are relatively common in supermarkets here in Texas.
They work a lot like any squash, great in soups. There’s a slightly thorny variety out there as well, grew up eating these in a Mexican household, huge huge vines.
We call this sayote in the Philippines and we usually add this to tinola, a chicken soup.
Hmm if this is in the gourd family, then I might replace squash with it or alongside squash for my three warriors succotash. I usually layer succotash squash on bottom, corn at center, and bean on top.
I'v seen an recipe of vegan fudge ball using this one, here in Brasil we call it "Chuchu" usually used in stews, but there some sweet aplications
Haha, the little butt snack was hilarious 😆
Looking forward to future videos from this trip too!
I often eat green Chayote raw!💕
I basically treat it like celery and make “ants on a log” snacks with them.
🤷♀️😋
We get these from local farmers. I work in the produce department in my local natural foods store. I just stocked some fresh picked ones today! :)
I was looking at that fruit going... that looks like a choko. So i googled it and turns out, same fruit different name! They're very common in Australia.
They grow here in central California as well. Friends and I back in the day after school would grab a few on the way home, chuck a few in the bbq pit to roast on the coals, and season with lemon, salt, and Valentina hot sauce.
A good brand of hot sauce. It actually has a very distinct flavor.
its easy to grow into a house plant, I've grown the green variety, but never cooked it
It’s very good in soup it’s also good for high blood pressure, have lots of it In Jamaica and many different fruits.
I've seen chayote in the store here and been curious about it but not enough to buy it. Thank you for reviewing it. With your review, I'm going to try one now that I know what to expect.
I like how this basically turned into you blogging your dinner.
In Brazil we call it Chuchu. The plant has a reputation of being so prolific that earned the motto ''Dá mais que chuchu em cerca'', meaning "Yields more that chayote on a fence" (since it is a vine) and used whenever referring to something plentiful.
My household wasn't very creative with it considering the output of the plant on our backyard. Boiling it was as far as we ever got.
Same thing in Jamaica we also call it chuchu.....we cook it in soups...
@@royexcellentalexander8308 Cool, I wouldn't guess that name was shared woth Jamaica! Many people do not care for this, claiming it tastes of nothing. Some will joke that chuchu is the 4th stage of water. Liquid, solid, vapor and chuchu.
A vegetable, definitely and never eaten uncooked. Used in soups, stews, with pot-roasted meats;pork!!, beef and even fish and yes, curry. Called Chocho, it serves as a meat tenderiser. We prefer to use it when less mature without the 'grow' at the base.
So enjoy!! Greeting you from Jamaica, West Indies.🤗
we usually just boil them cut open and eat with a spoon its bomb we usually get the spiky one we have them here in the us aswell i usually get em at mexican markets
i think the potato taste comes out more after boiling
In Australia we call these Choko's. Every farm had these growing and you can't even find them away. Absolutely tasteless! In fact there was a furphy going around that McDonald's Apple Pies contained Chokos
I bought a vegan cookbook with some unfamiliar ingredients like chayote in it, but I've been too scared to try unusual veggies/fruits.. so thank you for letting me experience chayote vicariously through you
It's a great survival plant. Generous and low mantainance once established (though that part takes care).
The younger and smaller the fruit, the easier it is to eat the skin and seed (as well as peel and cut). The older bigger fruits give more flesh but it's more likely you'll want to remove the tougher skin (easier after boiling). You can tell by size and by how much the seed is popping out the butt (notice the difference in the video).
Chayote pears! In SA we call them Shushu's because some have soft hairs that look like thorns and ShuShu slang for ouch (or directly translated to hot hot). We slice and sautee them in garlic butter. Please try it simply sauteed with garlic, butter, salt and pepper. Great side dish or even on crispy Italian bread or french loaf . You can also fry some with some onions in a little bit of oil with Indian Curry paste, add veg broth and puree with a little milk or cream till smooth and silky. Delicious!Blessings. PS the seeds add great texture to stir-fry and Ramen.
@@J.T323 hulle is baie lekker. Kyk net dat dit ShuShu is en nie Jode piesangs nie. Die Shushu sal nie wit melk binne hê nie. Nie giftig nie maar dit proe nie lekker nie. Shushu sal 'n sagte pit in he en solied wees binne.
My gits,nou weet ek wat om te maak met die goed wat hier in my tuin groei,was nie seker wat die goed was nie.
@@odettestroebel3135 baie dankie,sal bietjie kyk,die wat ek het lyk presies soos die wit een wat hy daar het...
In Louisiana, we call them mirliton and a lot of people stuff them with a seafood stuffing.
Awesome video! I’ve actually had this one before and I cooked it in enchiladas. You’re absolutely right! It’s great the way they retain some texture even fully cooked.
Oh wow, welcome to Costa Rica Jared! So happy to know that you came here :D I hope you have a great time!
I live in a super multicultural area, and the grocery stores here always have wild, unusual fruits and vegetables. When I see something I've never really noticed before, I have to buy it and eat it and/or see if I can grow it. This spring I came home one day with 4 varieties of squash I'd never seen before, and Chayote were the only ones that turned out to be viable. Tossed 2 of those bad boys in a cardboard box and forgot about them on a shelf for a month, and they sprouted like potatoes from the "butt crack". They're growing like crazy in my garden right now, I'm excited. I really hope our growing season in BC will be long enough for them to produce fruit :^)
I was given one for the 1st time this week. Looking it up for a recipe I saw it is used in Vietnamese food. I picked a Vietnamese beef stir fry to make and it was fabulous. I preferred the choco to zucchini that people say it is like. My friend tells me it used to be in maccas apple pies which makes sense as it would hold its form while the apple mushes around it.
My uncle absolutely loves these. There was a point where he wouldn't go a full week without eating something made with it. One of my most common uses for it is to simply slice, batter, and deep fry. The batter I use is simple -- besan (AKA chick pea flour or gram flour), some small amount of rice flour for crispiness, chili powder, salt, and water. Basically the same as a lot of bhaji/pakora batters.
I love this fruit (I always thought of it as a vegetable), my mum is from Angola, and she always made this. We ate this in stews with rice or funge (it’s similar to polenta but made with casava flour or corn flour)! It’s so nice and it creates a nice creamy sauce. I’m glad to see a video of this wonderful fruit! I recommend everyone to try it! We call it Xuxu in Portuguese.
I loved this episode so much. I was excited to hear your take on something I'm familiar with. I was not prepared for you to spank the naughty fruit. I died laughing. Surprised you didn't notice the astringency in the skin, for that reason it's usually peeled here in California. Maybe regional? Also, some seeds have a delicate fruit flavor, like a faint whiff of jackfruit. Others are nutty, and others are bland. I encourage you to enter the chayote seed lottery more often.
I live in California too and all the chayote seeds I have tasted have a nutty flavor. Not complaining but I would like also to sample those ones with frutal flavors.
Finally tried this! Excellent, crisp texture. Juicy, with a flavour kind of like green bean or snap pea. I've seen them at the store and my curiosity got me to take the plunge - will buy again!
I make chickpeas like you did, but i add sweet plantain and it tastes delicious!
My wife is from Honduras and she always cooks peeled and sliced chayote in chicken soup. it’s delicious 😋 it give texture to the dish and a little flavor goes really well with carrots.
I've only ever seen the green chayote before, but I've come across them around Toronto and bought a couple once. I stir-fried each one up, one with some chili and one with some other seasoning, I forget exactly what I fried them up with. Like you said, the flavour was really mild nothing that stood out specifically - if I had to name a flavour, it would be astringent like star fruit.
The most appealing aspect for me was the texture, an apple like texture, or perhaps like a less crispy water chestnut or lotus root. The same way people put apple in salads, this would be a great way to get the same texture without adding the sweetness of the apple. And you nailed it, they absolutely have butts.
So cool! Excited for the upcoming vids :D
Also your pronunciation is just fine, though the obligatory "probably saying that wrong" is at this point a trademark of yours x)
Thank you for the videos, I really enjoy your videos and exploring the world of fruits.
chayote is often stir fried with garlic in vietnam. maybe it's just only me but i find chayote and kohlrabi having some very weird flavors when overcooked a bit (beside being mushy).
about this fruit 1:12 ,we call it labu siam in indonesia and we make some dishes with those,like sayur asem, sayur lontong etc
Finally!
I love these!!!
They grow them down in NOLA and southern MS for super cheap.
We usally use it in stir fry or put them in a steamer. Currently trying to grow one and it is still small right now.
My mom who was born in the Philippines makes a dish called Tinola which is a ginger and onion soup with chicken that has vegetables like moringa leaves or bokchoy and green chayote. It’s really delicious and one of my comfort foods!
Have you done cecropia/embauba?? Id love to see it!!
I'm from Guadeloupe and Martinique (French carribean), we call it "Christophine" , i love theses
Every time we go to Brazil for shows i get these. Xuxu down there.
Usually had it with ground beef, garlic, and just salt. Using the beef to flavor everything
Excited about the 35 fruit! Great content!!
Slice, steam, add salt, butter and grated Parmesan and it is delicious and delicate. Love it with salmon or other fish. Great in soups but added near the end of cooking. It is also used to make "mock apple pie".
You have no idea how relieved I am that you managed to cut (mostly) straight through the butt cracks of both chayotes, despite starting at the top.
That food you made out of the chayotes looked delicious!
Tajin to the rescue! Also, the stew looked like a delicious bit of improvisation.
That recipe you made looks delicious. Will definitely try it
My grandmother used to make it into a gratin with an onion white sauce and buttered bread crumbs on top and browned in the oven until bubbly. A bit like a Mac and cheese but no mac and no cheese. She Only made it at Christmas time!! Special dish!!
Hi Jared, we call that a Choko here in Australia, you can just buy them at the supermarket, one of my favourite veggies. :) I have grown up eating them there a great filler and flavour carrier.
The sentence at 08:00 finaly sent me over the edge
_to giving that_ *"thumbs up"!*
i saw one at my local asian market!!
The last time i attempted to eat Chayote I tried it grilled but its so dense it didn't really cook all the way through. It kind of had the flavor of raw zucchini and spaghetti squash.
Holy crap. Never seen the roots! I wanna eat that now! That looks delicious!
Yeah, it looks like a white true yam... and I do (strangely) love a white yam.
I appreciate you making a video to help me decide that I do not want to buy one of these! I'm excited to see what else you found in Costa Rica!
This is pretty much how I cook too. Random crap thrown together until delicious. Dad is kinda warming up to it, he used to throw a tantrum if I altered his mom's recipes in any way.
We call it cho chu (not sure how it spell) in Jamaica and mostly put in soup, I like eating it raw, it has a fresh taste.
I actually always saw these at the supermarkets back home, but have never tried it, my parents always said "it is as if a fruit tastes like water"