Boiled chestnuts in salt water

Chestnut is a kind of dried fruit that grows in the mountains of my country. The chestnuts we usually eat are the sugar-fried chestnuts bought on the street. This kind of chestnut tastes particularly sweet. When we make chestnuts at home, we usually boil them in salt water. The chestnuts boiled in this way will taste more flavorful. If you boil them in clear water, the chestnuts will taste particularly bland. So what is the method of boiling chestnuts in salt water?

Do you need to add salt when cooking chestnuts?

It’s your choice. If you want to eat salted chestnuts, just add some salt. Moreover, simple fine salt will not destroy the original flavor of chestnuts. The slight saltiness can bring out the sweetness of chestnuts, making them even more delicious. Moreover, it is easier to peel after boiling in light salt water.

How to cook chestnuts in salt water

1. Wash the chestnuts with water. You can buy them and leave them for a few days to dry them in the sun to make them sweeter.

2. Make a cut in the chestnuts to make it easier for them to absorb flavor.

3. Place in a pressure cooker or cooking pot and add salt and star anise.

4. Cook in a pressure cooker for 6 minutes or in a regular pot for more than 20 minutes, until the food is soft and glutinous, then you can serve.

What seasonings are needed to cook chestnuts

It depends on personal taste. For example, if you like sweets, you can add sugar and cook it together with chestnut water. If you like salty food, add salt. Then you can add some star anise, cinnamon, tangerine peel and other spices for seasoning. Star anise and other ingredients can be added or not, but don’t put too much. The brine should be slightly salty and can be adjusted according to personal taste.

Do you need to add salt when cooking chestnuts?

No salt is needed when boiling chestnuts, but they are easier to peel after being boiled in light salt water.

Before boiling chestnuts, wash them and cut them horizontally with a knife. They will be easy to peel after they are cooked.

1. Hot water soaking method: Wash the raw chestnuts and put them in a container, add a little salt, immerse them in boiling water, and cover the pot. After 5 minutes, take out the chestnuts and cut them open, the chestnut skin will fall off along with the chestnut shell. This method of removing chestnut skin saves time and effort.

2. Refrigerator freezing method: After the chestnuts are cooked, cool them down and put them in the refrigerator to freeze for two hours to separate the shell and the meat. This way, the chestnut skin can be peeled quickly and the chestnut meat remains intact.

What to put in boiled chestnuts

No ingredients are needed to boil chestnuts.

Main ingredients: 1 pound of chestnuts and a pot of water.

practice

1. Prepare a plate of carefully selected fresh chestnuts.

2. Use a knife to gently cut one/two/three times on the cone of the chestnut.

3. The shapes of the chestnuts when they are cooked will be different depending on the cuts made.

4. Add enough water to cover the chestnut flour and cook for about 20 minutes, then you can take it out and eat it.

Tips

The water must be enough to keep the chestnuts from getting too wet after they are cooked, otherwise they will be difficult to peel or the texture may not be beautiful.

How to choose chestnuts

You can pinch the chestnuts with your hands. If the grains are firm, the flesh is generally plump. If the grains are hollow, it means the flesh has dried up or has become soft after being kept hot. Put a handful of chestnuts in your hand and shake them. If you hear a sound of shells, it means the flesh has dried and hardened. They may be chestnuts from last year pretending to be fresh chestnuts. Good chestnut kernels are light yellow, firm, fine-textured, low in water, highly sweet, glutinous, and fragrant; otherwise, they are hard, tasteless, and have a poor taste. The bigger the chestnut particles, the better. There are two types of Chinese chestnuts: southern chestnut and northern chestnut. Northern chestnuts are generally smaller, with about 70 to 80 pieces per 500 grams. They are flat and round in shape, with a thin skin and are easy to peel after frying. The particles are also more uniform and of better quality.

When purchasing, you should choose large ones with dark brown and shiny skin as the best quality. In the market, some stalls sell chestnuts of all the same size. It is understood that most of these chestnuts are stocks in cold storage, especially last year's chestnuts. These chestnuts are mostly processed through mechanical peeling and screening. They are not new products this year and are cheaper than this season's chestnuts. You should be more careful when purchasing. The chestnuts that have just been put on the market are of different sizes. It is not easy to peel them. Artificially peeled chestnuts will have residual skin scraps and knife marks on them. Fresh chestnuts have a thin layer of fuzz on their skin, while old chestnuts have a smooth skin. When picking chestnuts, it is best to check carefully for worm holes, because chestnuts are most susceptible to worms.