A staple in the South, okra can add a tender crunch to your gumbo, or it can stand alone when roasted or fried. It is one of those vegetables that once you try it, you’ll want to look for ways to incorporate it into a variety of dishes.

But if you’ve never cooked with okra, there are a few things you should know before diving in.

First, as okra cooks it produces what is called mucilage. The mucilage has a similar consistency as the gel of an aloe vera plant, and can be unappetizing to some, especially if you’ve never eaten okra before. To cut down on the slimy texture, you’ll want to choose small, young pods (about 3 inches long), and rinse and dry okra thoroughly (and we mean thoroughly) before cooking.

You can also implement one of the following cooking methods to help cut down on the mucilage.

Soak the okra in vinegar before cooking. 
Some people swear by this method. To us, it seems a little counterintuitive. But we tried it anyway. Of the three methods we used, we thought that this produced a more slimy result—which is not saying much considering the other two methods were very pleasant with little slime.

For this method, soak the whole pod in 1 cup vinegar, cider, or apple cider vinegar diluted with 1 quart of water for one hour. Remove the okra from the liquid, and allow to dry thoroughly before proceeding with your recipe as directed.

Drizzle with lemon juice while cooking. 
Slicing okra before cooking will generally produce a bit more slime than cooking it because the slices tend to breakdown (cook) faster. The key here is to cook only until the okra is tender, and there is often only a small window between cooked to perfection and becoming too slimy.

This method involves slicing the okra into pieces, and then cooking in a dry skillet over medium heat. Add the juice of about one lemon per cup of sliced okra. Cook only until the okra begins to soften, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Roast.
Roasting the whole okra pod before adding using it in the southern gumbo recipe produced the best results for us. We didn’t experience any slime with this method, and in fact, the okra was very pleasant and maintained a bit of crisp.

To roast okra, wash the vegetable, and dry thoroughly (again, make sure it is as dry as possible). Then roast (with no liquid or olive oil) at 425°F until it is just barely tender, about 15 minutes.