Oddball edibles

MOVE BEYOND SPUDS AND SWEET POTATOES TO THE RARER TUBERS OCA, CHINESE ARTICHOKE AND YACÓN

- Jennifer Stackhouse

We are so used to the normal starchy tubers we eat for dinner most nights — such as potatoes (see page 48, last issue) and sweet potatoes — that other sources of edible starch barely get a look in.

Compared with spuds, some are small and fiddly to prepare, but all are delicious and many are very easy to grow across a wide range of climates.

Oca, Chinese artichoke, and yacón are three odd starchy tubers to grow at home. As they are rarely available at veggie shops, growing them yourself is often the only way you’ll get to eat these starch-rich oddballs.

Oca label

Common name: Oca, oka, New Zealand yam

Botanical name: Oxalis tuberosa

Family: Oxalidaceae (wood sorrel family)

Aspect & soil: Sun to part shade; well-drained soil

Best climate: All

Habit: Perennial grown as an annual vegetable

Propagation: Tuber

Difficulty: Easy

OCA

Don’t freak out when you discover the botanic name of oca is Oxalis tuberosa. Oxalis is best known to gardeners as a persistent and very annoying weed, but there are non-weedy oxalises including this one, which has edible tubers.

The small tubers are knobbly, usually pink (though some are yellow or orange) and about 8cm long. They are planted in spring to grow through summer for autumn to winter harvest. In tropical zones, they grow as a dry-season crop planted in autumn.

Despite its other common name of New Zealand yam, oca, like potato, is native to the central Andes. It made it to New Zealand in the 19th century where it became popular as it was easy to grow and nutritious.