Kohlrabi – why the tuber is so healthy
Kohlrabi is considered a typical German vegetable and healthy in many ways. In the kitchen at home, the tuber is therefore often used and in numerous variants. But what exactly is kohlrabi, can you eat it raw and how healthy is the vegetable really? We explain what makes kohlrabi so popular, which ingredients influence the health effects and what you should consider when preparing and storing the vegetables.
Kohlrabi – what is that?
The kohlrabi is a vegetable from the cruciferous family and belongs to the cultivars of the cabbage. Usually only the above-ground tuber, which consists of a thickened plant shoot, is eaten. As it grows, the leaves fall off and the typical stripes and scars appear on the kohlrabi bulb. Depending on the variety, this can be spherical, flat-round or oval in shape. The colors of the shell range from whitish to a pale and rich green to reddish or violet. However, the flesh of the cabbage is always white. The long-stemmed leaves of the vegetable plant are dark green and toothed.
Ingredients: How healthy is kohlrabi?
The cabbage variety is rich in minerals and vitamins. The most important minerals in kohlrabi include:
But the vitamin content in kohlrabi is not to be scoffed at either. But what kind of vitamins are actually in it?
Vitamin C is found in vegetables, for example . The content of this vitamin is even particularly high at around 63 milligrams per 100 grams – oranges contain around 50 milligrams for the same amount. Vitamin C strengthens the immune system and cells, making the body less susceptible to infections. Just 100 grams of kohlrabi cover more than half of the daily vitamin C requirement of an adult.
The tuber also contains vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and E as well as folic acid . B group vitamins in particular are good for the nervous system, muscles and blood circulation. Vitamin E, on the other hand, is good for skin and hair. It also ensures better cholesterol levels.
In addition, kohlrabi contains so-called mustard oil glycosides , which belong to the secondary plant substances. These should have an antibacterial effect, which is why they are used in herbal medicine, for example, to treat urinary tract infections. Mustard oil glycosides are also used to promote blood circulation in skin irritations and to stimulate gastric juice production.
The leaves of kohlrabi are also healthy
The kohlrabi leaves are also not to be scoffed at. Because some of these have even more nutrients than the tuber itself and should therefore definitely be used when cooking.
Compared to the tuber, they have around twice the vitamin A and vitamin C content, and the phosphate content is two and a half times higher than that of the kohlrabi tuber.
How many calories does kohlrabi have?
Among the vegetables, kohlrabi is particularly suitable for those who want to lose weight and all those who want to eat healthily. The vegetables provide only 25 kilocalories (kcal) or 104 kilojoules per 100 grams and contain hardly any carbohydrates and almost no fat. This makes kohlrabi one of the ideal suppliers of nutrients in the cabbage world.
Kohlrabi contains the following ingredients per 100 grams:
- 91.6 grams of water
- 1.9 grams of protein
- 0.1 grams of fat
- 3.7 grams of carbohydrates
- 1.4 grams of fiber
Can eating kohlrabi have side effects?
Kohlrabi is characterized by its good digestibility. While other types of cabbage often cause an unpleasant bloated stomach , kohlrabi can also be eaten raw. Because kohlrabi does not cause the formation of as many gases in the body or in the intestine as other types of cabbage. He is usually well tolerated with this.
However, kohlrabi, like many other leafy and root vegetables, is a nitrate-rich food. Nitrate enters the plant through the soil (particularly through fertilizers rich in nitrate) and is stored in leaves and roots or tubers.
The nitrate itself is not harmful to health. However, it is converted in the body into nitrite and then into nitrosamines. These are suspected of being carcinogenic. Nevertheless, this is no reason not to eat kohlrabi, since consumption in normal amounts is considered harmless and kohlrabi also contains large amounts of vitamin C, which is said to inhibit the conversion of nitrite into nitrosamines in the body.
If you still want to keep the nitrate content in vegetables as low as possible, you should use organically produced products, as they do not use nitrate-containing fertilizers. Kohlrabi from your own garden is also a good alternative.
Where does the taste of kohlrabi come from?
Kohlrabi has little of the typical cabbage flavor and instead tastes slightly sweet and mildly nutty. The kohlrabi vegetable gets its characteristic taste from the mustard oil glycosides and fruit acids contained in the tuber. In the case of the latter, these are mainly malic and citric acid.
How long does kohlrabi keep?
Kohlrabi is a popular vegetable in the kitchen due to its healthy ingredients. The tuber is available in supermarkets all year round.
If you only want to use the healthy vegetables when they are in season, buy them especially in the summer months of June, July, August and September. During this time, the tuber is particularly cheap and fresh. Crisp and green leaves and stems as well as an undamaged skin are important indicators of a fresh kohlrabi when you buy it.
The vegetables can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week. If you also wrap a clean, damp cloth around the tuber, you can extend its shelf life by about a week.
Longer storage: Freeze kohlrabi
In general, the tuber is best prepared fresh. But freezing is also possible. Before freezing, it is advisable to wash the fresh kohlrabi, peel it, cut it into pieces and blanch it briefly (about three minutes) in boiling water. Then you put the vegetables in the freezer. In principle, kohlrabi can also be frozen raw, although this can occasionally lead to changes in taste and (due to the high water content of the vegetable) to a slightly mushy consistency.
The tuber will keep in the freezer for up to 12 months. Before preparation, the vegetables should not be thawed, they can be used frozen.
Why does kohlrabi become woody when stored for a long time?
Kohlrabi generally needs a lot of moisture. If the tuber is still in the ground, it draws water from there. However, if you harvest the tuber and want to store it, there is a risk that it will become woody and taste bitter.
The longer the vegetable sits, the more likely it is that the tuber will dry out and become woody, especially if the leaves are not removed from the tuber. Kohlrabi should therefore be eaten as fresh as possible. Even when still growing in the garden, a kohlrabi can become woody if it doesn’t get enough water.
How do you prepare kohlrabi?
If you have little experience with preparing the vegetables, you may be wondering how to peel and cut kohlrabi. In general, the first step is to remove the leaves from the tuber and wash it.
Then peel off the skin with a knife or vegetable peeler, remove the roots and then cut the vegetables into strips, slices or cubes, depending on the recipe. It is worth cutting out woody areas so that the vegetables do not taste bitter later.
The leaves of the kohlrabi can be prepared in a similar way to spinach : You can simply wash them, cut them into strips or bite-sized pieces and cook them in a pan with some garlic and onions . The kohlrabi leaves are also suitable as an ingredient in pesto .
Cook the kohlrabi as gently as possible
In order to preserve the nutrients as much as possible, you can prepare the turnip greens in the steamer. Steam cooking is based on steam. This results in a particularly gentle preparation.
The cooking time mainly depends on the size of the vegetable pieces. The thicker the pieces, the longer it will take to cook. Kohlrabi usually takes about 15 minutes to cook through.
Tip: You can use a fork or knife to easily check whether the vegetables are done: just prick the pieces briefly. If the vegetables are soft, then they are done.
Versatile: recipes with kohlrabi
Kohlrabi can be combined with many things in the kitchen. The tuber goes well with other vegetables such as potatoes , celery or carrots and also harmonizes particularly well with the spices tarragon, nutmeg, dill and parsley .
Kohlrabi vegetables are not only suitable as an accompaniment to fish or meat dishes, but can also be the main component of a delicious dish.
Popular and delicious recipes with kohlrabi include:
- Kohlrabi and potato casserole or kohlrabi gratin
- Kohlrabi soup or stew
- Kohlrabi salad (for example as a variation of a Waldorf salad)
- breaded kohlrabi schnitzel as a vegetarian meat alternative
- Kohlrabi lasagna, where kohlrabi slices replace the pasta layers
- Kohlrabi fries as a low-carb version of classic fries
Can you eat kohlrabi raw?
In principle, you can eat both the tuber and the leaves of the kohlrabi raw. Both are good as part of a salad. Cut into sticks, the kohlrabi also tastes good with dips as a healthy snack.
Since vitamins B1 and C in particular are sensitive to heat, i.e. can be destroyed during cooking, it is definitely worth reaching for raw kohlrabi.
Planting and harvesting kohlrabi – that’s how it works!
Kohlrabi is a biennial spring vegetable. However, the tubers can only be harvested in the first year. If the plant is then left standing, it will produce flowers containing the kohlrabi seeds in the second year.
To plant kohlrabi, you need a sunny to semi-shady location and humus-rich soil. At the beginning of February and March, the cabbage can already be preferred as seed. As soon as the seed has germinated and young plants have formed, transplanting into the garden from April is recommended.
The first kohlrabi can usually be harvested as early as June (approx. eight to twelve weeks of growth). It is particularly important for the growth phase that the soil is kept evenly moist, but not wet. This prevents the tuber from becoming woody.
Origin: A typical German vegetable
The easily digestible type of cabbage is mainly consumed in Germany and Austria. About 60 percent of the European cultivation areas for kohlrabi are in Germany. It is worth mentioning that her German name (with a slight variation) was retained even in the English (“Kohlrabi”), Russian (“Kol’rabi”) and Swedish (“Kalrabbi”) language areas.
However, it is not known where kohlrabi (scientifically: Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes L.) originally comes from. He probably comes from Northern Europe. Reliable evidence of the plant in the form of drawings in herbal books has only existed since the 16th century. In German-speaking countries, kohlrabi spread particularly in the 19th century.
