Xec Jicama and Citrus Salad from Yucatán | Mexican Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is jicama in Mexican food? ›

Jicama is a root vegetable with thick, brown skin and white flesh. It tastes like an apple but not as sweet. It's a bit like a potato but with a lot fewer carbs. The jicama plant grows mostly in Mexico and Central America on a long vine. But the part you eat is the root.

Though most often eaten raw, such as chopped into salads, jicama can be steamed, boiled, sautéed or fried. And so long as you don't overcook it, jicama retains its pleasantly crisp texture (think fresh apple) when cooked. The flavor is on the neutral side, with a hint of starchy sweetness.

Jicama is a healthy food to include in your diet. It's high in several nutrients, fiber and antioxidants, which may provide health benefits, including improved digestion, weight loss and a reduced risk of disease. Plus, jicama is tasty and crunchy and can be eaten by itself or paired with many other foods.

Jicama is also very low in sugar and fat and maybe a suitable replacement for starchy, higher carbohydrate vegetables. As a low-calorie and nutritionally dense food, it may be a good potato substitute for people with diabetes.

Jicama good for digestion

The high levels of dietary fiber in jicama helps to add bulk to stool and facilitates its smooth movement through the digestive tract and thus prevents constipation. Moreover, it contains oligofructose inulin which is a sweet, inert carbohydrate that does not break down into simple sugars.

A word of warning about inulin: Some people are sensitive to inulin, which can cause painful gas or bloating as it's digested. To reduce this uncomfortable side effect, soak the peeled and sliced tubers in water for an hour before eating it raw, or before cooking. Boiling will also reduce the inulin content of jicama.

Jicama promotes healthy weight and weight loss because it has low sodium, low fat and high fiber. Thanks to that high fiber, this vegetable lowers cholesterol, stabilizes blood sugar levels and boosts the digestive system.

What does jicama taste like? The flavor of jicama is mild, lightly sweet, and slightly nutty. It's tastes like a cross between an apple, a potato, a water chestnut, and a pear. Because it's mild and starchy, it blends well with other flavors, especially in its raw form.

The Jicama tuber has a crisp texture similar to an apple,and can be eaten raw. Jicama tubers are considerably larger than potatoes,and,unlike the potato,do not have vegetative “eyes” on the surface. The texture of the potato is more mealy,and potatoes must be cooked to be edible.