Pickled Okra

[jinman]

Holy cow! I was at Sam's Club yesterday and found 1/2 gallon jars of pickled okra being sold under their Members Mark label. A whole jar is less than $4 (I think it was $3.88). I haven't tasted this yet, but if it is any good at all it is worth the money.:thumbsup: I bought two jars.:licking:

I know Bird likes pickled okra and he doesn't live very far from a Sam's Club in Lewisville, TX. I believe he mentioned buying it in pint jars at a Walmart store for almost $3.00 per pint. The price on this jug really stunned me.

 

[mjarrels]

Jim, I like pickled anything, okra, eggs, beets, etc. Mom used to send me pickled bread and butter pickles while I was on Navy ships.

mark

 

[Chuck52]

I was thinking about posting a question about pickling okra and here was this thread. So, almost every time I make pickled okra the pickling liquid ends up below the top of the pods. I figure that's because of the air pockets in the pods. Anyone know a trick to prevent that? Maybe just poking a hole in each pod?

Back to the original.....

Does it say on the jar where it's made? I bought some marinated mushrooms at Sam's a while back and really enjoyed them until I saw the jar said Made in China. I'm not too much of a nut on imported foods, but Chinese marinated mushrooms worried me because I know what we use to grow mushrooms here.

Chuck

 

[jinman]

Chuck, I've searched the label and the specifications online. Nowhere does it say this product is sourced in China. It does say that this is a Kosher product. It also says on the label that there are 35 1-ounce servings in one jar and each serving is 5 calories. That means I could sit down and eat a whole jar without exceeding 200 calories.:thumbsup::laughing:

 

[Chuck52]

Jim,

Sounds like you got a good old USA product! Are they spicy? I usually add a hot pepper and a clove of garlic to each pint of my okra, and depending on the peppers that year they can be pretty hot. However, I don't think I've ever had a pickled okra I didn't like. About the only commercial brand I can remember seeing is Talk of Texas. If my okra flood hadn't just started I'd be buying some of that from Sam's. As it is I'll probably be pickling this weekend and try a couple tricks I've seen to minimize the problem with the level of the pickle juice.

Chuck

 

[jinman]

Actually, I just checked the price and it was $3.36 per half-gallon rather than $3.88.

Chuck, I don't know how they taste because I haven't had any yet. I still have two large jars of pickles and a couple of small jars of pickled peppers in my fridge from my July 4th cookout. Since these have to be refrigerated after opening, I haven't opened any yet, but I don't know how long I can hold out.

 

[tallyho8]

I usually buy the smaller jars of pickled okra because once I open the jar and start eating I don't have the willpower to stop until they are gone.

One of my biggest complaints about the box stores is that they frequently label items as "distributed by so and so" or "packaged by so and so" but fail to tell the place of origin. It is possible that you buy some medication that is distributed by a company in Florida but manufactured in India.

 

[jinman]

Jim, I like pickled anything, okra, eggs, beets, etc.

Pickled baluts?

Just kiddin'. . . I don't even want to watch people eat baluts, kimchi, or even caviar. I don't even want to think about it. . . why the heck did I even post this?:ashamed:

 

[Bird]

The Talk O' Texas pickled okra is what I buy at Walmart. They have a "hot" and a "mild" version. I prefer the mild myself, but accidentally grabbed a jar of the "hot" once and they weren't bad at all.

But at that price, I better check our Sam's Club. Let us know if they're good, Jim.

 

[jinman]

Bird, I couldn't resist. I combined some pickle jars together to make room and then opened this jar of pickled okra. It has a mild dill taste and each pod is saturated well, even the seeds. It's not hot at all. There is a large variation in the size of pieces, but they all seemed to be consistently tender no matter how big the pods. Of course, the bigger pods have bigger seeds, but that isn't an issue with me. I have to rate it at least 8 on a 10-point scale, maybe a 9 since the only problem I see is variation in pod sizes.

 

[brin]

Bird, I couldn't resist. I combined some pickle jars together to make room and then opened this jar of pickled okra. It has a mild dill taste and each pod is saturated well, even the seeds. It's not hot at all. There is a large variation in the size of pieces, but they all seemed to be consistently tender no matter how big the pods. Of course, the bigger pods have bigger seeds, but that isn't an issue with me. I have to rate it at least 8 on a 10-point scale, maybe a 9 since the only problem I see is variation in pod sizes.

jinman - how much Sodium in those...I love everything pickled but the sodium is the thing I watch out for..????

 

[jinman]

jinman - how much Sodium in those...I love everything pickled but the sodium is the thing I watch out for..????

Any pickle is going to be over-the-top in sodium because of the pickling salts. These have 350 mg per serving (15% daily allowance). I think bread & butter pickles have less sodium, but these are surely no worse than any other type of pickled okra I have ever had.

 

[Bird]

Jim, that reminds me that I got two jars of the Talk O' Texas okra in the past that had some very tough pods, maybe a third to half the pods in each jar, even though they were uniform size. I told them about it through their website and they sent coupons for replacements jars. And I've bought some of theirs since and they've always been good. I don't care much what size the pods are as long as they aren't tough.

 

[Chuck52]

Bird,

I've found with my okra that the later in the season the more likely I am to get tough pods, no matter what the size. Right now, my okra has just really started producing and even the big pods that hide from me for a few days are still tender. I probably should pickle some now rather than wait until we've had our fill of fried okra, which is what I've done in the past.

One year when I had an early okra flood, I brought in a bag to work that had lots of 5-6 inch pods. One of the Indian postdocs took most of it and later told me she had never had okra that big that was tender. On the other hand, late in the season I've picked some 2-3 inch pods that were tough.

If I want the fried okra badly enough, I'll fry up the semi-tough ones and just plan to chew a while! I figure the roughage is good for me!

Chuck

 

[jinman]

Chuck, our okra is growing so fast that if my wife misses a 2" pod when she picks, it will be 5" or more two days later when she picks again. Even so, since it is growing so fast, it seems to all be tender. I think she could pick okra every day from our little patch. We have som many yellow blooms on our okra that it looks like it should be in a flower garden. Kathy loves picking okra because she doesn't have to bend over causing her back to hurt.

Now, I like picking blackeyed peas because I only pick the leathery pod ones that are mature and easy to shell. Many people never get the knack of picking the right pea pods and that can make shelling a real pain. Just because the pea pod is big doesn't mean it is ready to pick. Many people also break off the bloom stem on peas when they pick the pod. After so many years of picking, I have it down to a science. I only break one or two bloom stems while picking a whole half-bushel of peas. My brother tells the story of letting some friends pick in his pea patch. They told him that they knew how to pick peas, but when they brought their baskets to show him, they had broken off the bloom stem on every pea they picked and there was no more bloom/pea production from those stems.

 

[Bird]

I like picking blackeyed peas because I only pick the leathery pod ones that are mature and easy to shell. Many people never get the knack of picking the right pea pods and that can make shelling a real pain.

Oh, no, you're doing it all wrong.:shocked::laughing: Of course, they're easier to shell, but I prefer the smaller green peas and plenty of snaps; better flavor. And I simply cannot find our preferred kind in the canned ones. I have a brother who loves blackeyed peas, but only wants the dried ones, and I had a neighbor down in Navarro County that I let pick his own and he was like you; only wanted the "mature" ones.

But I do agree with you about the bloom stems.:laughing:

 

[Chuck52]

Now you guys have me all paranoid about my pink-eyes. This is only my second year of growing any field peas, and I'm not sure if I picked them right last year or not. You do mean to just be careful to pick just the pod you are picking, right? Same way when you're picking green beans you try not to pull off the stem and just take the pod? I either pinch off the pods or hold the stem while I pull the pod.

Last year I waited until the pods were pretty mature, but not completely dried out. I wanted the full sized peas, but still "fresh" and not dried out. I wasn't quite sure what stage to collect the snaps at, so I just didn't. Got a pretty good stand this year. About 2 and a half 60 foot rows. The !@#$% Japanese beetles don't seem all that interested in them, though I had a good time squishing beetles on the okra.

I introduced some of my friends here in Missery to okra and last year I gave some of the same folks their first fresh pink-eyes. The pink-eyes were more universally approved. Some folks just can't get by the texture of okra. Got one vegetarian friend who really liked the peas and did them up in olive oil and various fresh herbs. I used some of them in a dish something like Texas caviar.

Chuck

 

[dmccarty]

We love Okra.

We did not grow any this year because it took constant picking. You could see a pod that was not quite ready to pick and then boom, next day it was a six inch long spike that would do in Dracula.

I tried pickling Okra and I am not happy with the result.

We can get Talk o Texas brand here and the are EXCELLENT. :thumbsup:

Regarding Japanese Beetles. Last year I bought two kits that attract the beetles so that they fall into a plastic bag to die, Die, DIE!. These worked VERY well. The beetles really like the beans, corn and to a lessor degree the Okra. This year the beans are late but the volunteer beans that popped up got hit hard by the beetles. I put up some new bags and attractors and no more beetles! Much better than spraying with my home made bug killer or when it really got bad Sevin.

I think this is what I bought down at the farm store, Buy "Bag-A-Bug" Japanese Beetle Trap at BuyHardwareSupplies.com. This year I just bought some new attractant and bags.

After I put up the new bags and attractant the beetles really have disappeared. I think after two years I think we seem to have reduced the beetle population.

Later,
Dan

 

[Bird]

No need to be paranoid, Chuck.:laughing: There's just some differences in preferred flavor. I prefer the young green peas with snaps, but I sure never turn down the mature ones, like Jim picks, or even the dried ones my brother prefers. And I don't believe I ever heard of "pink-eyed" peas, although purple hulls are quite popular in our area, and apparently they're the same thing.

Tastes vary with okra, too. My wife likes fried okra, but won't eat it any other way. I like it fried, stewed, or pickled, and I used to have a secretary who carried her lunch to work, and frequently included raw pods of okra. I had never before heard of eating it raw, so I tried it; not bad, but not particularly good either.

 

[Chuck52]

Bird,

The packet said pink-eyed purple hull, so I guess we're talking about the same pea. I like the purple hull because they make it so easy to find them, as opposed to the green okra pods I often miss until they get to the tent stake stage. I bought them last year because they were the only field pea available around here. I thought sure I'd find either black eyes or crowders, but only one seed store had the purple hulls and that was all they had for field peas. I had planned to order some different peas but never got around to it, and I still had a bag of these. Then I saw small packs of them at WalMart of all places.

Fried is my favorite way to eat okra, though it is fine as an additive to soups and stews. I hope to try some kind of curry with it this year. That seems to be one of the main ways it is used in India and the far east. Raw? I've eaten a few raw pods while picking, but I can't see that as major use!

Chuck