How to choose water chestnuts? Why do water chestnuts smell so bad?

Water chestnut, an ancient aquatic vegetable, is also the "life-saving food" that the older generation loves to eat. As the old saying goes, "After the White Dew Festival, the nights are cold and the days are hot." Water chestnut, also known as waist water chestnut, water chestnut, and water chestnut, is the fruit of water chestnut. There are many ways to eat water chestnuts. You can steam and boil them, peel them, cook them into porridge, or grind them into water chestnut powder before eating. Nowadays, many young people don't know much about water chestnuts, and many people have never even heard of this plant. In fact, it has a long history of cultivation in my country.

Contents of this article

1. How to choose water chestnuts

2. Why do water chestnuts smell so bad?

3. Recommendations for eating water chestnuts

4. How to peel raw water chestnuts

How to choose water chestnuts

It is difficult to buy water chestnuts because they have a hard shell, but don’t worry, we will tell you how to buy water chestnuts next, so that you can buy fresh and delicious water chestnuts.

Before buying water chestnuts, we must first determine whether we want to eat them raw or cooked. If we want to eat them raw, we should buy fresh and tender water chestnuts; if we want to eat them cooked, we should buy old water chestnuts.

If you want to buy fresh tender water chestnuts, you should pick those that are emerald green and tender, especially those that have just come out of water, as they will have better effect and taste better.

If you want to buy old water chestnuts, you should choose those with yellow or red shells. After being cooked, the flesh of this kind of water chestnuts is white and has a soft and glutinous texture.

Why do water chestnuts smell so bad?

It is normal for the horns to have a strange smell (also called bitter or muddy smell) after being cooked. However, if the shell is hard after being cooked and the meat is white and has no odor, it is safe.

Water chestnut consumption suggestions

Try not to eat water chestnuts, water chestnuts, and lotus roots raw, and do not chew the skin with your teeth. When eating them raw, be sure to wash them thoroughly and soak them in boiling water for a few minutes or dry them in the sun for a day before eating. Wash your hands after contact with aquatic plants or sewage to prevent metacercariae contamination.

1. Eating too much raw fresh fruit can easily damage the spleen and stomach, so it is better to cook it before eating.

2. Water chestnut porridge is beneficial to the stomach and intestines and can relieve internal heat.

How to peel raw water chestnuts

1. Method 1: Wash the raw water chestnuts with clean water, cut off the bottom and two sides with a knife, then put both hands on the two corners of the water chestnuts and break them hard. At the same time, put your thumbs on the concave part of the water chestnuts and apply force. This way, the shell and the meat of the water chestnuts can be separated without destroying the shape.

1. Method 2: Wash the raw water chestnuts with clean water, put them on a chopping board and cut them along the longer diagonal with a knife. Then push the shell of the water chestnut towards the flesh, and the shell will turn outward, and the snow-white water chestnut flesh will come out. The water chestnut peeled by this method looks like a gold ingot and is very pleasing to the eye.