Chef at 11:11, 6 November 2012

2012-11-06T11:11:05Z

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{{#seo:
|title=Chinese water chestnuts: Cooking Wiki
|titlemode=replace
|keywords=#corms #vegetables #chinesewaterchestnuts #riboflavin #starch #listoftubers #tigernut #dietaryfibre #carbohydrates #nutsgrainsandseeds #lotusroot
|hashtagrev=12032020
|description=The Chinese water chestnut, more often called simply the water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge grown for its edible corms
}}


[[Image:Canned water chestnuts.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Canned water chestnuts]]
The '''Chinese water chestnut''', more often called simply the '''water chestnut''', is a grass-like sedge grown for its edible [[corms]]. It has tube-shaped, leafless green stems that grow to about 1.5 metres.

The Chinese water chestnut is native to China and is widely cultivated in flooded paddy fields in southern China and parts of the Philippines.

The small, rounded [[corms]] have a crispy white flesh and can be eaten raw, slightly boiled, grilled, pickled, or tinned. They are a popular ingredient in Chinese dishes. In China, they are most often eaten raw, sometimes sweetened. They can also be ground into a [[flour]] form used for making water chestnut cake, which is common as part of dim sum cuisine. They are unusual among [[vegetables]] for remaining crisp even after being cooked or canned. They do this because their cell walls are cross-linked and strengthened by certain phenolic compounds, a property shared by other vegetables that remain crisp in this manner, including the [[tiger nut]] and [[lotus root]].

The corms are rich in [[carbohydrates]] (about 90 percent by dry weight), especially [[starch]] (about 60 percent by dry weight), and are also a good source of dietary [[Dietary fibre|fibre]] [[riboflavin]], [[vitamin B6]], potassium, copper, and manganese.

The water chestnut is actually not a nut at all, but an aquatic vegetable.
==See also==
'''There is a very comprehensive [[List of tubers|list of corms and tubers here]]'''

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[[Category:Ingredients]]
[[Category:Nuts grains and seeds]]
[[Category:Vegetables]]

<code 'hashtagrev:12032020'>[[Special:Search/corms|#corms]] [[Special:Search/vegetables|#vegetables]] [[Special:Search/chinesewaterchestnuts|#chinesewaterchestnuts]] [[Special:Search/riboflavin|#riboflavin]] [[Special:Search/starch|#starch]] [[Special:Search/listoftubers|#listoftubers]] [[Special:Search/tigernut|#tigernut]] [[Special:Search/dietaryfibre|#dietaryfibre]] [[Special:Search/carbohydrates|#carbohydrates]] [[Special:Search/nutsgrainsandseeds|#nutsgrainsandseeds]] [[Special:Search/lotusroot|#lotusroot]]
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Chinese water chestnuts - Revision history

Chef at 11:11, 6 November 2012