Jicama tastes like Asian pear, with white and crisp flesh, and after losing water it becomes the perfect partner for oden balls

There is a crop you may never have heard of, yet you may well have eaten it; its flesh is white, its texture crisp, it is not afraid of the sun, its edible part grows underground, and after harvest it needs no refrigeration and can be stored for a year. This amazing crop is jicama! Fresh jicama tastes like Asian pear, and after losing water it becomes the oden and balls commonly eaten at convenience stores and night markets!

It is actually a legume, and the largest production area is in Xinyuan, Pingtung

Jicama is also called gua-shu, with other names such as liang-shu, tian-shu, ground radish, and underground Asian pear. Although its name contains "shu" (potato), jicama is actually a perennial leguminous plant, and the edible part is the underground tuberous root. Its skin is pale yellow with a slight brown tinge, beneath which is white flesh. The above-ground stems and leaves of jicama flower and form pods, and the seeds inside the pods look like beans.

The main production area for jicama across Taiwan is in the Kaohsiung-Pingtung area. According to statistics from the Council of Agriculture, in 2018 the domestic jicama planting area was 204.72 hectares, with an annual output of 4002.7 metric tons. The top three production areas were Daliao District, Kaohsiung City with 107.3 hectares, Xinyuan Township, Pingtung County with 53.69 hectares, and Pingtung City with 38.4 hectares.

The Daliao District Farmers' Association said that most of the jicama in Daliao District is actually planted by farmers from Xinyuan Township, Pingtung County, who farm across county and city lines. "Jicama needs sandy soil. Daliao and Xinyuan near the banks of the Gaoping River are very suitable. Many Xinyuan farmers come over to Daliao to plant, and occasionally they also ask us to help send it to the auction market!"

The son of "Jicama Uncle" returns home to take over the baton, planting after Mid-Autumn Festival and harvesting before Chinese New Year

Chen Tianzan, a jicama farmer in Guilai, Pingtung, began growing jicama at the age of 17 and has been growing it for more than sixty years, earning him the name "Jicama Uncle." In recent years, due to his advanced age, he has now passed the baton to his son Chen Rongde, who retired from work. This year is Chen Rongde's 12th year back home.

Pingtung jicama was once exported to Hong Kong, China. "In the past we planted more, now only two or three jia remain, all in Xinyuan." Chen Rongde said that in the past his father's jicama fields even extended to Jiuru, and they experienced jicama's glorious days, when even people in Sandimen grew jicama; but later, after exports declined, the planting area also shrank. In recent years, as his father's strength has declined, he returned home to help.

"On average, each fen of land can yield 8000 to 9000 jin." Chen Rongde said that jicama in Pingtung is usually planted by some people after Mid-Autumn Festival, harvested around Chinese New Year, and harvested all the way through the end of April. Even if poor weather causes a poor harvest, each fen of land will still yield 6000 jin, and in a bumper harvest one fen of land can yield 15000 jin.

No refrigeration needed and it can be stored for a year; it can still be eaten after sprouting; mostly used to make processed products such as oden and balls

"Jicama is different from potato; it can still be eaten after sprouting." Chen Rongde said that harvested jicama does not need refrigeration and can be stored at room temperature for a year. During storage, even if the jicama sprouts, cutting off the sprout still leaves it edible.

Chen Rongde's jicama is currently sold wholesale one box at a time. "People in central and northern Taiwan may not know jicama, but in Pingtung we see it very often." He said that from childhood to adulthood he often saw jicama on the dining table, and now it is mostly sold to processing plants or shops that handmade oden and balls for processing.

"The crisp texture of oden and balls comes from jicama!" Chen Rongde explained that jicama used for processing should be chosen from jicama that has been stored for a while and has lost water. Different shops have their own recipes; for example, chicken rolls are made by mixing fish paste, jicama, or ground pork.

Besides processing, jicama also often appears in restaurants. Chen Rongde said that many noodle shops and restaurants in southern Taiwan peel and chop jicama, then serve it cold-dressed or pickled as a side dish, or use it as an ingredient in dishes. "This year with the pneumonia outbreak, many restaurants and snack shops have been affected, orders have decreased, and jicama is also hard to sell."

Jicama, which likes sandy soil, is mostly grown near the Gaoping River

Yan Guosheng, a jicama farmer in Xinyuan, Pingtung, is also a second-generation farmer who returned home to take over his father's jicama fields. "My dad farmed for decades, now it's my turn!" Having switched from construction worker to growing jicama seven years ago, he grows several jia of jicama, most of it on riverbed land. "Jicama fears waterlogging. This year there was little rain before harvest, so the harvest situation is pretty good."

Yan Guosheng had no experience growing jicama at first, and when he first returned home he paid a lot of "tuition." Later, he bought back better-quality jicama to observe, and studied the differences between his own growing results and other people's jicama, and only then gradually improved.

The suitable growing temperature for jicama is 25 to 30°C. Yan Guosheng said that jicama needs well-drained sandy soil. Both banks of the Gaoping River have abundant sandy soil, which is very suitable for growing jicama. In addition, the soil at planting time must not be too hard, so as not to affect the flesh quality of the jicama.

Yan Guosheng explained that at planting and harvest time a plow is used to turn and loosen the field. At harvest, after loosening the soil, manpower is needed to pull them out, and then the above-ground stems and leaves are cut off, and the jicama is turned over and slightly sun-dried before being boxed. "You also have to be very careful when pulling them out. If they are caught by clods of soil or grass, the jicama may be bruised or split open."