Chinese Water Chestnut

Also known asChinese Water Chestnut · Eleocharis dulcis · 荸荠 · 马蹄

Name: Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) — the round, brown-skinned corm of a grass-like aquatic plant, with crisp, white, juicy, sweet flesh that stays crunchy when cooked. It is not a nut, and unrelated to the water caltrop.

Description

Chinese water chestnuts are native to Asia and Australia, and have been grown in flooded fields in China for thousands of years, as an important crop. They are harvested by hand from the muddy bottoms of shallow ponds in autumn. They are also grown in Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands.

The corm has a thin, dark, papery skin, and peeling reveals a white, apple-like flesh that is sweet, mild and distinctively crisp, holding its crunch even after long cooking, which makes it popular in stir-fries and dumplings. Fresh ones are far better than canned ones, which are crisp but have less flavour.

Main nutrition value

Water chestnuts are low in calories and provide fibre, potassium, manganese and vitamin B6, and have a high water content.

How best to be consumed

Water chestnuts are eaten raw, or cooked briefly, and keep their crunch.

1. Scrub, peel and slice fresh water chestnuts, and eat raw as a crunchy snack, or add to salads.
2. Add to stir-fries, soups, dumpling and spring roll fillings for crunch.
3. Boil and simmer in sweet soups and desserts, or make water chestnut cake, as in Cantonese dim sum.
4. Rinse canned water chestnuts and blanch briefly to remove any tinny taste.
5. Cook fresh water chestnuts before eating if they were grown in untreated water, to avoid parasites.

Overconsumption could cause…

Water chestnuts are safe in food amounts, with a point on hygiene.

1. Parasites, such as liver fluke, from raw water chestnuts grown in contaminated water, so wash, peel and cook them if the source is uncertain.
2. Allergic reactions in rare cases.
3. Bruised, mouldy or sour-tasting corms, which should be thrown away.
4. Sodium in some canned products.

GroupsRoot VegetablesLow fatLow sodiumChineseFresh

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Wikipedia — Eleocharis dulcis, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleocharis_dulcis