A long time ago, I worked for a company that translated things into Plain English, and the company bid on a contract for the IRS. This included a side trip to IRS headquarters, where we had lunch at the cafeteria. They served AMAZING fried okra--sliced from tiny pods--in little waxed paper envelopes. That has been my gold standard for fried okra ever since.

I have seen it alleged that if you are stewing okra or making a gumbo or a curry, you can keep down the slime factor by only removing the stem from the pod, leaving the cap intact so the seeds don't gloop out.