First Tokyo market turnips.

[Hattie the Hen]

How funny!! I am glad they were so delicious! Were you harvesting them early- or are they meant to be that size? The turnips I am familiar with are quite large and often woody. How lucky you are to be thinking of planting another row, now! I am getting ready to plant snow, on this side of the country!

I picked those a little young but they never get as big as European types. They have a nice mild taste and are never bitter. I like to steam them and mix them into some mashed potatos. They make great pickles also. I like them for sweet pickles with some hot pepper flakes mixed in.

I love this variety pot-roasted with duck as they cook through in approx. the same time.....don't let them get too brown though. Their green are good too, cook like spinach. Nothing's wasted....!!
I also cut them into very thin discs & use them in stir-fries & in salads. They are also good coarsely grated into coleslaw along with carrots.

 

[hoodat]

Now there's an idea. I never thought of putting them in coleslaw. I had some krauted like cabbage once. It's a Polish thing I think.

 

[so lucky]

The seed for the Tokyo market turnips is pretty pricy, tho, isn't it, Hoodat? People in my area used to buy Purple Top turnip seed by the pound and broadcast it. Maybe some folks still do; I am not in the position to know anymore. I think the oriental hybrids are about a jillion times more expensive. But a whole lot better! Even if you don't like turnips, you will like these.

 

[digitS']

Really?!?

I'm an admirer of oriental veggies. But, turnips, I can take or leave alone - mostly, leave alone. A little surprising to me that bok choy is the same species.

It has been so long since I've eaten turnip greens, I've wondered what I'm missing out on . . . Maybe, I have just missed the right variety! And then, Kitazawa has a "leaf radish" that I'm curious about .

Steve

ETA: do you suppose that there is something here that i'd like (click)?

 

[so lucky]

Looks like the price difference is only about 4x now, not a jillion x. We used to sell purple top turnip seed for $3.00 a pound. A teaspoon of Tokyo
Cross was $1.00. I can still hear the echo of the stingy old German farmers griping about the price. (Not to generalize about farmers or German people)