If you’ve ever ended up with a mountain of chokos climbing over the fence, you’ll know the problem isn’t growing them. It’s figuring out what on earth to do with them all.
For years, chokos have carried the unfortunate reputation of being bland, boring, or simply “filler food.” But honestly? That’s a bit unfair. Choko are one of the most versatile vegetables you can grow. Their mild flavour means they happily absorb whatever you pair them with, making them perfect for everything from soups and baking to roasting and preserving.
And when your vine suddenly decides to produce enough choko to feed an entire neighbourhood, versatility becomes very important.
Why Choko Work So Well
Choko have a texture somewhere between a pear, marrow, and potato depending on how they’re cooked. They soften beautifully, carry flavours well, and stretch meals cheaply and easily.
They’re also:
- prolific growers
- easy to preserve
- low waste
- excellent for bulk cooking
- surprisingly adaptable in sweet dishes
Once you stop expecting chokos to taste exciting on their own, and instead start treating them as a culinary “support act,” they become incredibly useful.
The Great Choko Peeling Debate
Before baking, preserving, or pickling choko, you’ll usually want to remove both the outer skin and the soft centre seed. The skin can become fibrous during cooking, especially on larger or older chokos, and once peeled, the flesh has a wonderfully annoying tendency to become slippery and sticky to handle.
When it comes to preserving, remove the skin first.
Method One: Tea Towel Grip
Hold the choko in a tea towel with one hand while using a vegetable peeler in the other. The tea towel gives you a much firmer grip and stops the choko sliding around your hand like an escaped fish. It also saves you from constantly washing sticky sap off your fingers.
Method Two: Slice First
You’ll need to remove the centre seed regardless, so alternatively, cut the choko into slices first (removing the centre seed as you go), then run a vegetable knife around the outside edge of each slice to remove the skin. Some people find this method easier because the pieces are more stable and manageable once cut.
Whichever approach you use, just know that everyone who has ever made choko pickle has probably muttered at least once during the peeling stage. It’s part of the tradition.
A Handy Shortcut for Soups and Slow Cookers
If you’re adding choko to soups, casseroles, or slow cooker meals, there’s an easier option than wrestling with a peeler.
Simply cut the whole choko into quarters (cutting away the centre soft seed) then boil the choko with the skin still on until softened. Once cooked, the flesh and skin separate very easily, making them far less fiddly to prepare. You can then scoop or peel the flesh away from the skin. And importantly: don’t waste the cooking water. The choko water can be added straight into soups, stocks, or slow cooker meals for extra flavour and goodness. After all, if you’re already boiling a giant pot of chokos, you may as well make the most of every part of it.
Choko absolutely shine in soups because they soak up surrounding flavours beautifully.
They work especially well in:
- creamy vegetable soups
- chunky winter soups
- chicken soups
- curry soups
- slow cooker meals
- blended soups
They can replace potato for a lighter texture or bulk out soups without dramatically changing the flavour.
Choko in Baking
This is where choko really surprise people. Because they hold moisture well and have such a neutral flavour, they work brilliantly in cakes, muffins, loaves, and slices. Think of them a bit like zucchini in baking. As an example, here’s my Choko Chocolate Muffin recipe.
Steamed or grated choko can be added to:
- spice cakes
- fruit loaves
- apple crumble fillings
- steamed puddings
They add moisture without overpowering flavour, which is especially handy when trying to make baking stretch a bit further. A lot of older family recipes quietly used choko in place of apples or pears during harder times. Once mixed with cinnamon, sugar, and spice, most people would never know.
Roasting Choko
Roasting completely changes chokos. Instead of soft and watery, they become slightly caramelised with golden edges and a texture somewhere between roasted pear and pumpkin.
Try tossing sliced chokos with:
- olive oil
- garlic
- rosemary
- smoked paprika
- parmesan
- salt and pepper
Roast them alongside pumpkin, kumara, carrots, or potatoes and they fit right in. They’re also excellent in tray bakes because they absorb all the surrounding flavours from herbs, meat juices, and seasoning.
The Joy of Making Food Stretch
Perhaps the best thing about chokos is what they represent. They’re practical, reliable and generous.
A single vine can produce huge amounts of food with very little fuss. And when combined with a bit of creativity, choko become far more than a “filler vegetable.” They become part of a kitchen that wastes less, preserves more, and learns to work with abundance rather than against it.
Not bad for something most people spend half their life trying to give away.
