Jerusalem artichokes is a bit of a misnomer. They’re neither artichokes nor do they hail from Israel. I heard the name “Jerusalem” comes from the Italian word for sunflower – girasole. This vegetable belongs to the sunflower family and it’s a small, lumpy, brown-skinned tuber instead of the beautiful green of the true globe artichoke.
Here’s a photo of an artichoke with Jerusalem artichokes side by side. They look very different coz they *are* completely different things. I got both of them while grocery shopping yesterday.
I found a recipe by Jamie Oliver for Sautéed Jerusalem Artichokes and modified it a bit. I cooked this last night for dinner while my better half came out with the protein dish. You will need:
- 200 grams Jerusalem artichokes
- 100 grams Portobello mushrooms
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 100 ml dry white cooking wine
- Salt and pepper to taste
The hardest part about cooking Jerusalem artichokes is the peeling bit. The tubers are tiny and knobbly and it’s really hard to get a grip on the little things to peel away the skin. After that labor intensive process is done (enlisted the help of my dear – she volunteered after listening to the choice French phrases I directed at the tubers 
) you just need to slice them into chunks.
I sautéed the the Jerusalem artichokes in a pressure frying pan with olive oil and some thinly sliced garlic until golden brown before adding in 50 ml of dry white wine (eye-balled it) and putting the lid back on.
I waited for 15 minutes and then put the sliced Portobello mushrooms in and adding the remaining 50 ml of white wine. I let it reduce (only takes a while coz the mushrooms absorb the wine) and served it up with some basil from our own herb garden.
We were both pleasantly surprised by the taste – the Jerusalem artichokes are crunchy and sweet! I thought it was just a bit of sales talk (grocery place-card says the tubers can be sweet) but it really is deliciously crisp and sweet! It’s a delicious dish, but Jerusalem artichokes sells for RM 39.90 per kg over here so it’s more expensive than local offerings.
I’ll love to eat it again though. I can see a lot of possibilities e.g. puréed, deep fried etc. I’m going to do a stuffed globe artichoke tonight so it’s back-to-back artichokes (except the Jerusalem artichoke is actually a tuber). 😀
HB, interesting side dish for the holidays are coming around . Are you planning to make a roast or no oven to so? Pot Roast is easy in dutch oven.
I’m planning to do a turducken! 🙂
A turkey stuffed with a duck which is in turn stuffed with a chicken. I’ll need a lot of people to eat this though so I’m bringing it over to the in-laws.
I’ve never made turducken before although I always wanted to and mentioned it so many times before on the blog. Haha!
Never heard of Jerusalem artichokes before, interesting to know about the taste, thanks for sharing 🙂
Yeah, I’ve never seen them before too! 🙂
I know artichokes but never seen Jerusalem artichokes before (they’re actually tubers) so bought some to try!
HB, I didnt know that there is a word as in Artichoke until I did the word game in my hp… I come by to see how it looks like… very new to me! 🙂
It’s supposed to be an aphrodisiac too! 🙂
I guess it’s more common in other countries coz it doesn’t grow here but a lot of places are importing them in now. I wanted to cook one in Melbourne but there were already too many dishes (last night when I cooked for my dear) so we cooked it over the weekend instead.
It’s very sweet and creamy (globe artichokes I mean). Jerusalem artichokes are tubers like potatoes but tastes sweet and crunchy.
I’ve never had the veg before. Shall look out for it in the supermarkets.
I’ve seen it in Melbourne and during my Europe travels! 🙂
This is Jerusalem artichokes though, it’s not a real artichoke but a kind of tuber. It’s still pretty interesting since we both haven’t eaten it before. It’s a nice find but it’s so hard to peel. Haha!
I have never had that. Wondering how it taste like
It tastes crunchy and sweet! 🙂
I was surprised too, didn’t expect it to be as the place-card says. I would like to try and puree it but it’s just so difficult to peel!
I was having a lot of trouble peeling the Jerusalem artichokes and my dear took over coz it took me so long. Haha!
wow, your blog is turning into a food blog now! glad to know that you’re cooking a lot more now. 🙂
hey. 🙂
Thanks Michelle! 🙂
Haha! You’re right, I ought to mix it up a little bit!
The next post won’t be about cooking, I promise. I have a lot of travel posts to write still.
Dear, I like you sauteed the Jerusalem artichokes with the portobello mushroom in cooking white. The mushrooms became so flavorful after absorbing the white wine. It was a good try though but not going to buy again, right..haha <3 *hugs**
I’m glad you like it dear! <3
Yup, it's good with the dry white cooking wine, need to get another bottle since we finished the bottle while cooking this. I didn't expect it to reduce so fast but we're using the pressure pan.
Haha! Yeah, it's so troublesome to peel. Globe artichokes are so expensive too - more than RM 1 per petal! I'm glad you tried it though. *hugs*
Never heard of it nor seen it before. The end product sure looks good but just wondering why your better half said, “…but not going to buy again, right?” Too expensive, not worth it?
Yeah, it’s a niche product over here coz it’s a relatively obscure import! 🙂
The globe artichoke ended up costing us more than RM 1 per petal (which is about an inch on each side) – it’s coz of the way it’s cut – the huge stem is left in the weighing and the artichoke is a bit too large.
I notice that they do scale down though – we bought a huge celeriac a while back and noticed since then that they have packaged it without the inedible roots (which weighs a lot) and quartered it to make it more accessible (less expensive).
Hey Chef.. looks fantastic chef.. but how about inviting me over for dinah?! 😛 hehe
Thanks Mei! 🙂
I’m not that good a cook, I just like experimenting with new ingredients! My dear is way better in cooking, she always cooks stuff that’s consistently delicious.
Haha! Sure thing, when we move into the new place.
Haven’t had the time to leave comments but I’m still lurking around. Keep them cooking posts coming bro. I’ve been doing a bit of cooking myself over here and can use some inspiration.
Thanks bro! 🙂
I just like experimenting with new ingredients that I see in the grocery and playing around with ingredients. We’ve been watching a lot of MasterChef (Australia and US) and it’s been influencing our cooking and experimentation a little and making us more inspired. Haha!
i really like how you incorporate some relatively unusual ingredients in your recipes. love the creativity and the effort … most of my memories of jerusalem artichoke are of them done in creamy soups, but your recipe looks like great comfort food! 😀
Thanks mate! 🙂
Yeah, I actually go looking for new ingredients that I can use or wait for stuff that I want to get to do stuff that’s in my list. One thing that I’ve not been able to find in KL or PJ is:
Key limes
These are the limes used to make key lime pie by reacting with condensed milk. I can’t seem to find them here, guess no one has thought to import them yet.
All the weird things you eat! lol
It’s fun to cook with new and relatively obscure ingredients! 🙂
Saliva is drooling whenever i read your post :p
Thanks Hazel! 🙂
I love cooking with new ingredients, that’s what we’ve been doing a lot of. We watch a lot of MasterChef too so we’re taking cooking to another level. Haha!
I salute you once again for coming up with exotic new dishes always! I thought I have eaten something like this recently but it was not called this name. Anyways I look forward to see your stuffed globe artichoke! Brilliant Chef HB!
Cheers mate! 🙂
I just like to find new and interesting things and try to cook them. I think the stuffed globe artichoke was tastier (Jerusalem artichokes are tubers actually) but it was quite expensive – RM 1 per petal!
Wondering how it taste like!~
It tastes sweet and crunchy! 🙂
I loved it!