If water chestnuts have turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use them with confidence and how to choose them, cook them, store them, what to substitute, and 309 recipes to try them in.

What are water chestnuts?

Water chestnuts are not chestnuts and not nuts.

They are the crisp underwater bulbs (technically corms) of a grass-like sedge grown in flooded paddies across Asia. The plant sends up reedy stalks, while the part you eat grows in the mud below.

Peeled, the flesh is white and juicy with a little sweetness, somewhere between a raw apple and a fresh coconut. But you do not eat them for flavor.

You eat them for crunch. Water chestnuts stay snappy even after they are boiled or stir-fried or baked into a hot dip, and that heat-proof crunch is the whole reason they are in your kitchen.

The Crunch That Survives Cooking

Most vegetables go soft when you cook them. Water chestnuts do not, because their crispness comes from a heat-stable cell-wall compound rather than from raw rigidity. Drop them into a hot wok and they keep their bite.

That is why they belong in stir-fries, where soft vegetables would turn to mush. Sliced thin, they punctuate a Portabello Stir Fry or a bowl of Sweet & Sour Vegetable Salad with little snaps of texture.

Chopped fine, they hide inside fillings to keep them from going dense. They are the secret crunch folded into Steamed Pearl Balls and into shrimp and pork dumpling mixes, where a soft paste would feel heavy.

They also carry the classic hot spinach dip. A scoop of chopped water chestnuts is what gives a Spinach Dip in Pumpernickel its crunch against the soft, warm spinach.

Add them late. Even though they hold their texture well, long stewing eventually dulls the snap, so stir them in near the end of a braise or soup.

Cooking and Pairing

Water chestnuts lean Asian, sitting happily with soy, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil. They pair with chicken, shrimp, and pork as well as vegetables like bamboo shoots and snow peas, taking on the flavors around them while holding their own texture.

Their mild sweetness is a bonus, not the draw. Treat them as a textural ingredient and season the dish around them, since they bring crunch more than taste.

The one wrapping trick worth knowing is the bacon-wrapped rumaki appetizer, where a marinated whole water chestnut goes inside a strip of bacon. The crunch survives the broiler while the bacon crisps.

The common mistake is slicing them yourself when the recipe wants even, thin coins. Pre-sliced cans save the fuss.

Substitutes

For the heat-proof crunch in a stir-fry, jicama is the closest swap. It is crisp and mildly sweet and holds its texture, though it is softer than a water chestnut and a little starchier.

Canned bamboo shoots give a similar mild, crunchy note in Asian dishes, with a slightly more fibrous bite. Lotus root, sliced thin, is crunchier still and adds a pretty lacy look.

In a cold dish where the crunch does not have to survive heat, raw celery or even a tart apple, diced small, can stand in. They will soften if cooked, so save them for dips and salads.

If you only need the snap, a handful of toasted nuts covers the texture in a filling, though the flavor goes a different direction entirely.

Buying and Storing

Most water chestnuts sold in the West are canned, either whole or sliced, packed in water. Rinse them well before using, since the canning water can carry a faint metallic taste that a quick rinse removes.

Fresh water chestnuts turn up in Asian markets and are worth trying. They are sweeter and crunchier than canned, but they must be peeled, and the brown skin should be unwrinkled and firm with no soft spots.

An unopened can keeps for years in the pantry. Once opened, drain the chestnuts, cover them with fresh water in a sealed container, and change the water daily; they last about a week in the fridge that way.

Fresh unpeeled water chestnuts hold for a week or two in the refrigerator. Peeled, they brown and dry quickly, so peel them only when you are ready to cook.

Nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find water chestnuts: Water chestnuts are usually found in the asian section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Water chestnuts are a member of the Nut and Seed Products US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese

荸荠

British (UK) term

Water chestnuts

en français

châtaignes d'eau

en español

castañas de agua

How much do water chestnuts weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 ounce	28 grams

Related

Nut and Seed Products

Recipes using water chestnuts

There are 309 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 309 recipes

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