Preheat your oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a ceramic or glass baking dish (such as a 9 X 13-inch baking dish). Alternatively, use a rimmed baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.
Peel the jicama and cut it into ¼-inch-thick fries. Or use pre-sliced jicama strips, available at Whole Foods and in many grocery stores such as Kroger.
Place the jicama strips in a microwave-safe bowl. Add ¼ cup of water. Cover and microwave for 8 minutes, stopping once to gently stir. If I use a large jicama, I sometimes microwave it for up to 10 minutes, but 8 minutes is usually enough.
Using oven mittens, remove the bowl from the microwave. Be careful when removing the cover - hot steam will escape. Remove the jicama strips to paper towels to dry.
In a large bowl, toss the partially cooked jicama fries with olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. Arrange them in a single layer in the prepared baking dish.
Bake until browned and tender-crisp, about 40 minutes. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
The packaged sticks are sometimes fairly wide, so it's best to cut them thinner to better resemble the shape of French fries.
You can use melted butter instead of olive oil.
Microwaving the jicama fries before baking them is optional. But if you don't microwave them first, the fries retain some of their crunch even when baked for a long time. I tried both versions, and we all liked the microwaved version better.
I usually serve jicama fries with unsweetened ketchup. My Dutch dad likes to dip them in mayonnaise. They are also excellent with guacamole or salsa.
You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 4 days. Reheat them in the microwave, covered, at 50% power. Better yet, re-crisp them in a 350°F oven for about ten minutes or until heated through.