Water chestnuts, peeled, whole, Golden Lion

Water chestnuts from China, preserved in water. Although they resemble chestnuts, they are not related: they are the edible tubers of an Asian aquatic plant, cultivated similarly to rice and belonging to the sedge family. Water chestnuts have a crisp, white flesh that remains crunchy even after cooking and a sweet, slightly nutty flavor. They are incredibly versatile in the kitchen: in stir-fries or pan-fried dishes, raw in salads, in curries, in soups, as a stuffing, and even in desserts.