Foodie Penpal July: What is Dried Okra Anyways?
If you need a briefing of what exactly Foodie Penpals is, check out my post from last month and hop on over and sign up with Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean because this thing is so huge!
This month, I was paired up with Wanda from Alabama, and she sent me a box of goodies that represent her state!
The box included sugar wafers – which I loved as a child, a chocolate crab, some local dried okra from The Fresh Market, local honey, slaw and salad dressing, enriched rice, homemade strawberry fig jam, courtesy of Wanda herself and a nice little note explaining that everything (except the crab) was made in Alabama!
That jam she made was awesome (recipe please!) and went well on a peanut butter sandwich that I promptly made. The sugar wafers went down rather quickly and although I have not tried everything, my absolute favorite was the amazing dried okra! What? I don’t even like cooked okra. Fried? Maybe with a good dipping sauce. But dried? Crispy, lightly sweet undertones and a mild sprinkle of salt. Totally an amazing snack and now I am on a mission to find someone around here who sells it.
Thanks for that new obsession Wanda.
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Oh you got a really nice box! I have never heard of dried Okra. I love the stuff fresh. Maybe give it to someone else lol.
I had never heard of it before either – must be a well kept secret because that is what most people have said!
I buy that okra form The Fresh Market all of the time…its not exactly dried and has been deep fried like a chip – they (at least the FM I go to) package them as okra chips. I LOVE THEM! If you haven’t tried them yet – taste them – they’re great!
Awesome Pam, I’ll have to check and see if I can find something like that here. They are so great!