Incredible Vegetables You’ve Never Heard Of

the world is full of fascinating plant species and some of the most weird and interesting plants of all are in fact vegetables the varieties of color and shape and nature are potentially limitless and I challenge you not to be blown away by some of the bizarre combinations these kooky vegetables come up with so why not investigate a little further and join me as I take a look at some incredible vegetables you've probably never heard of number 20 salsify now so safai might sound like something you do to your Mexican food but it's actually pronounced a Sophie and is a root vegetable that's made it to the Mediterranean it comes in black and white varieties and it resembles a carrot or a parsnip but don't be fooled by its carrot he looks saw Sophie actually tastes a little bit like oysters and is typically used as a substitute for other root vegetables particularly potatoes the black variety looks like well a weird brown stick and it was very popular back in the Victorian times though it quickly fell out of fashion in the 20th century I can see why because of its appearance but if there's one thing I've learned in my research if you judge vegetables by their appearance you'll never find one you truly love stay ugly so Sophie number 19 Tiger nuts Tiger nuts have been cultivated for centuries throughout the world most notably by the ancient Egyptians and Native Americans these wrinkly fellows aren't actually nuts there are actually small round tubers and are named for their tiger striped skin they taste like a mixture of coconut and almond and can be eaten all sorts of ways fresh dried boiled juiced and roasted in Spain they're known as chufa and are used as an ingredient in the popular or chaat the beverage and in recent years tiger nuts have become known as a superfood due to their high nutritional content Tiger nuts are also made into flour and even milk just what the world needs another nut that's ripe for the milking except that it's not a nut so the milk would have to be called tuber milk sounds delicious number 18 mo qua also known as fuzzy melon Moke Y is a Chinese good that looks like a yellow green zucchini that just hit puberty when it's young it's covered in white fuss and has creamy white flesh as the vegetable ripens it loses its fuzz as well as its subtle sweet taste which is replaced by a light mild flavor unlike zucchini before preparing mo quoi either the skin must be peeled or the fuzz scrubbed off the fuzzy melon has eaten sauteed steamed roasted or raw and it's used in soups stir fries and stews they can also be used to scare the socks off your unsuspecting cat number 17 ouka nicknamed the lost crop of the Incas the oka is a colorful tuber that looks kind of like either a brain or a swollen maggot it's native to the rural Andes and is popular throughout South America and New Zealand the oka is grown exclusively at high altitudes and didn't come to exist naturally but was created through extensive selective breeding it has a tangy flavor and is often substituted for potatoes and yams as this versatile veggie can be mashed roasted boiled or fried slice one open and you'll find some peachy looking flesh showing that beauty is not only skin-deep number 16 Romanesco behold the Romanesco also sometimes called the brocco flower this Fibonacci confirming vegetable is an edible bud native to Europe and Asia it's the rebellious cousin of cauliflower and broccoli and its unique spiky oddly geometrical form resembles something out of Google's deep dream Romanesco has a slightly sweeter and milder taste than cauliflower broccoli and can be substituted for either in a recipe but it's also delicious raw there's also a cool-looking purple and green variety that suspiciously resembles another slightly less legal type of plant number 15 orange cauliflower also called cheddar cauliflower this vegetable was discovered in a produce shipment in Canada in 1970 it's a mutated version of regular cauliflower that retains extra beta-carotene which gives it its orange hue after extensive crossbreeding cheddar cauliflower has become widely grown it looks like an ordinary cauliflower in terms of size and shape and tastes similar but I'm sure if you thought about cheese enough you could conjure up the flavor there's also purple cauliflower and that gets its color from an antioxidant called anthocyanin which to me sounds weirdly like some sort of weapons-grade neurotoxin number 14 kohlrabi kohlrabi also known as a German turnip is a bulbous purple or green vegetable covered with cabbage like leaves it also smells like cabbage but tastes more like broccoli freaky stuff both the bulb and leaves are edible even if it does look a bit like a tentacle Balian bent on eventual world domination the largest ever kohlrabi was identified at the Alaska State Fair in 2006 it was an astonishing 96 pounds and 15 ounces number 13 fiddleheads as you might have guessed fiddleheads are actually the furled fronds of a young fern but did you know they can be harvested for use as a vegetable these seasonal fronds are usually found in May and their taste contains elements of asparagus green beans and broccoli fiddleheads must be cooked for at least 5 minutes to remove a naturally occurring toxin and should never be eaten raw some have noted their resemblance to the scroll end of a violin which is probably why they're called fiddleheads my logic is undeniable number 12 Marsh samphire the salah' cornea species of Marsh samphire sometimes called sea asparagus grows along the rocky salt sprayed Atlantic and Pacific coastlines an inhospitable environment for most vegetables both the buds and stems are edible then have a light salty taste there's also a translucent purple variety called glass wart samphire samphire is often pickled eaten raw in salads or used as a garnish for seafood dishes this veggie may even give us gas but not the kind you're probably thinking up it's being investigated as a potential biodiesel source number 11 dulls dose is the type of seaweed that grows wildly along northern Atlantic and Pacific shorelines this plant resembles red leaf lettuce when fresh and is known for its salty bacon light flavor earning it a reputation as the bacon of the sea as bacon needs to be saltier it's typically dried immediately after being harvested and sold as a seasoning dose makes an ideal salt substitute due to its minerality and can be sprinkled on salads popcorn bags ramen and potatoes so if you're looking to cut down your sodium intake get some Dolson to your diet number 10 lemon drop pepper this cone-shaped golden yellow pepper also called the algae limo is endemic to the Peruvian Andes it has a spicy sweet flavor with citrusy undertones and is 2 to 12 times hotter than a jalapeno though not as hot as a habanero the tangy lemon drop pepper is commonly used to make chilies and sauces but it can be quite hard to find outside its native region while many people enjoy the peppers flavor others think that the sweet citrus spice taste kind of like hand soap which might explain why you've never heard of it number 9 birdhouse cord also known as a calabash or bottle cord this bulbous green hardshell vegetable is native to tropical Africa and is cultivated in warm climates throughout the world it's edible when young but becomes increasingly bitter as it matures sounds a lot like my wife now you were proudly told not to play with your food as a child but the birdhouse gourd is actually meant to be messed around with ripe ones are often dried out and used for making things like kitchen utensils bowls and birdhouses so if you've got one of these laying around why not treat the birds in your community to some modern affordable housing number 8 black radish this charcoal colored root vegetable is one of the world's oldest cultivated plants and is thought to date back to ancient Egypt today it's most commonly seen in European markets and is sold in the u.s. at some farmers markets and specialty stores and as a cream and white flesh that contrasts with its black exterior in a zebra tastic way if you peel it right the black radish is known for its pungent aroma and for having it taste similar to horseradish it's often roasted and can be turned into vegetable chips that somehow look both tasty and healthy number 7 sunchoke the sunchoke is also called a Jerusalem artichoke but is neither an artichoke nor from Jerusalem in fact it's native to the east coast of the you and is actually a sunflower its Jerusalem label emerged as a corruption of the Italian word jeera soul which means sunflower the crunchy flesh of the brown lumpy Roop which resembles ginger is the edible portion of the plan and has a nutty sweet artichoke like taste sunchokes are typically eaten raw in salads roasted on a bed of salt or pureed into a suit this plan is also referred to by some as a fart achoo - - its humorous effects on the digestive system number 6 dragon carrot the dragon carrot is a treat for the eye one sliced purple on the outside orange on the inside and yellow at the core it's a member of the danver category of carrots which were developed in France in the 1880s the carrot has a sweet and mildly spicy taste though I'm not sure whether the fiery kick has anything to do with the name the unique flavor of this carrot is best experienced by eating one raw preferably straight out of the ground like a hungrily adventurous rabbit number five yard long bean don't be fooled by the name this seriously long bean only grows about half a yard but that's still pretty impressive for a bean the yard long grows best in warmer climates like Southeast Asia and tastes very much like a green bean to no one's surprise it retains its tight succulent texture when cooked in oil whether sauteed or stir-fried when cooked in water it becomes bland and water lot like somebody who stayed in the tub too long number four lotus root the Lotus plant floats in ponds throughout Asia and features an unusual hole filled seed pod that sits atop large leaves although the entire plant is edible the root which resembles an old-fashioned rotary foam is the most commonly eaten part the lotus root is a staple of the Chinese vegetarian diet it has a mild pleasantly sweet taste and a crunchy celery like texture it's cooked in various ways including stir-fried deep-fried and braised in soy sauce but it's best known use is providing amateur diners with tiny frisbees to throw at each other number three bitter melon the bitter melon is the kind of vegetable than has you asking what the heck happened to that cucumber strange vegetable with the name of a fruit is mainly eaten in China but it's grown in various tropical and subtropical regions around the world its outward appearance is somewhat off-putting but the bitter melon is supposed to have a variety of health benefits and medical uses particularly in the easing of stomach complaints the plan is generally consumed in the greener early yellowing stage of its life though it eventually ripens to a vivid orange which doesn't make it look any less bizarre number two groans the first thought I had when I looked at these was I don't remember Magus being a vegetable but these are Crohn's apparently or Chinese artichokes which are rhizomes or tubers of a perennial Chinese plant they can be eaten raw cooked pickled or dried and Chinese and Japanese cuisine the Crone's are normally pickled and for Japanese New Year they're dyed red using leaves of red shiso after being pickled and end up looking like this Crone's are supposed to treat colds and have some antimicrobial anti-tumor activity well if you'd go around looking like that you'd better be healthy number one watermelon radish and yet another fine example of a vegetable masquerading as a fruit here's the watermelon radish it's a type of heirloom Chinese daikon radish that's part of the mustard family and I think it might be the prettiest vegetable ever the exterior flesh is white yet just below the surface or vivid Pink's magentas and fuchsias that spread in an ink like pattern through the radish giving a watermelon type of fact they can be eaten cooked or raw though cooking will temper some of their natural spice and enhance their sweetness they add vibrant color to salads and work great in sandwiches or alongside sushi so if you want to inject some purple power into your cooking look no further than this versatile little root with an identity crisis so how many of these vegetables have you heard of and which one would you most like to try let me know what you think in the comment section down below and as always thanks for watching [Music] you [Music]

Channel: BE AMAZED

Views: 119,318

Rating: 4.893918 out of 5

Keywords: beamazed, be amazed, top 10, veg, vegetables, incredible veg, incredible vegetables, exotic vegetable, weird veggies, rare root vegetables, weird looking fruit, unusual vegetables, veggietales full episodes, incredible vegan fall recipes, incredible vegetables full movie, vegetables recipes

Id: 1Y865-wBpJw

Length: 13min 17sec (797 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 13 2019