Roasted Okra Recipe

5 from 5 votes

A quick & easy roasted okra recipe, charred on a grill or hot skillet and brushed with an umami glaze & sprinkled with a Xinjiang spice mix. This recipe can be made with a BBQ or a very hot cast iron skillet pan.

Prep Time5

Cook Time6

Total Time11

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: Chinese, Fusion

Servings: okra

Calories: 30kcal

Author: Joyce Lee

Ingredients

30 okra (approx. 350g)

Umami glaze

1 ½ tablespoon oyster sauce
1 ½ tablespoon honey

Xinjiang spice mix

1 ¼ teaspoons cumin seeds (ground or left whole, see notes)
1 tablespoon Korean pepper flakes (or Chinese chili flakes, which I find is spicier)
1 ½ teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
½ tablespoon powdered garlic (not garlic salt)
¼ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns (optional, this not the same as regular peppercorns and should not be substituted with it)

Instructions

Preparation

I personally do not like to wash my okra because any type of moisture on it will make them slimy.
If you want to wash your okra, make sure you dry it very well until all the water has been completely wiped off with a towel.
In a small bowl, mix together 1 ½ tablespoon oyster sauce and 1 ½ tablespoon honey and set aside for later
In another small bowl, combine 1 ¼ teaspoons cumin seeds, 1 tablespoon Korean pepper flakes (or Chinese chili flakes), 1 ½ teaspoons toasted sesame seeds, ½ tablespoon powdered garlic, and ¼ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns (optional). Set it aside for later.
If you are using Sichuan peppercorns or whole cumin, use a mortar and pestle or food processor and crush them into smaller pieces.

Grill The Okra (Option 1)

Set the BBQ to the highest setting possible and let it pre-heat
Skewer the okra. If you have metal skewers, use these instead of wooden ones. Since you are charring it on very high heat, the sticks may burn.
I don't recommend soaking the wooden skewers since that will add moisture to the okra which will make it slimy.
Once the BBQ is hot, add the okra on and grill them for 2-3 minutes per side or until they are charred and brown. Keep flipping it to prevent the sticks from burning.
Once they are done remove them from the BBQ and set them on a plate.

Roast the Okra on a Cast Iron Skillet (Option 2)

Set the stove to high heat and place the cast iron skillet on until it gets really hot. You don't need to add oil to the pan.
Once the pan is very hot, add the okra on and char it for about 2-3 minutes a side until they are brown or charred.
Once they are done, remove them from the skillet and set them on a plate

Flavor the Okra

Brush the umami glaze on the okra and sprinkle the spice mix on and enjoy immediately.

Notes

For this recipe, buy fresh okra and not the pre-packaged or frozen ones. Frozen or pre-packaged okra will have a lot of water in it and the texture will be very slimy with no crunch.
Oyster Sauce - there is no substitute for oyster sauce for this recipe. I use oyster sauce instead of soy sauce because of its viscosity - oyster sauce has a thicker consistency than soy sauce which sticks on as a glaze better. If you don't mind the extra work, you can thicken the soy sauce with a small amount of corn starch slurry - just keep in mind that it will be a lot more saltier than oyster sauce so you may need to add a bit more honey to balance the saltiness out.
I use honey instead of sugar for this recipe because of viscosity as well. It also mixes more easily into the oyster sauce.
When picking cumin, you can use either ground cumin or whole cumin. If you don't mind occasionally getting a bite of a cumin seed then I suggest whole cumin. I personally like to use whole cumin seeds but roughly crush it with a mortar and pestle (or food processor) so that it is not as fine as ground cumin but not whole cumin seeds as well. The cumin flavor is much more flavorful if you use whole cumin seeds.
When picking okra at the supermarket, pick small and thin okra. Small okra is younger and more tender. They generally have less seeds as well which usually means it will be less slimy. Make sure the okra is dry firm, and not shriveled up or wrinkled. Shriveled and wrinkled okra means it has been sitting out for a while are are dried out.
If you have furikake, you can also sprinkle that on top as well instead of the Xinjiang spice mix

Nutrition