Eleocharis dulcis

Chinese water chestnut
illustration circa 1880[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Cyperaceae
Genus:	Eleocharis
Species:	E. dulcis
Binomial name
Eleocharis dulcis (Burm.f.) Trin. ex Hensch.
Synonyms
E. equisetina E. indica E. plantaginea, E. plantaginoides E. tuberosa E. tumida and several more

Corm of Eleocharis dulcis

The Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) is a grass-like sedge native to Asia (China, Japan, India, Philippines, etc.), Australia, tropical Africa, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.^[2] It is grown in many countries for its edible corms.^[3]

The water chestnut is not a nut at all, but an aquatic vegetable that grows in marshes, underwater, in the mud. It has tube-shaped, leafless green stems that grow to approximately 1.5 metres. The water caltrop, which also is referred to by the same name, is unrelated, and often, confused with the water chestnut.

The small, rounded corms have a crisp white flesh and may be eaten raw, slightly boiled, or grilled and, often, are pickled or tinned. They are a popular ingredient in Chinese dishes. In China, they are most often eaten raw, sometimes sweetened. They also may 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, because their cell walls are cross-linked and strengthened by certain phenolic compounds, such as oligomers of ferulic acid.^[4] This property is shared by other vegetables that remain crisp in this manner, including the tiger nut and lotus root.^[5]

The corms are rich in carbohydrates (about 90% by dry weight), especially starch (about 60 percent by dry weight), and are also a good source of dietary fiber, riboflavin, vitamin B₆, potassium, copper, and manganese.^[6]

If eaten uncooked, potentially, the surface of the plants may transmit fasciolopsiasis.^[7]

Taste

Raw water chestnuts are slightly sweet and very crunchy. Boiled water chestnuts have a firm and slightly crunchy texture, with a flavor that is very mild and slightly nutty, so the flavor easily may overpowered by seasonings or sauces with which the water chestnut is served or cooked. Water chestnuts often are combined with bamboo shoots, coriander, ginger, sesame oil, and snow peas. Steamed or sauteed vegetable medleys frequently contain water chestnuts. They often are used in noodle or rice dishes.^[8]

Nomenclature

The Chinese water chestnut (traditional Chinese: 荸薺; simplified Chinese: 荸荠; hanyu pinyin: bíqi, 馬蹄; pinyin:mǎtí) is native to China and is cultivated widely in flooded paddy fields in southern China and parts of the Philippines, where it is called apulid. In Vietnam, it is called củ mã thầy (in the North) and củ năng (in the South) and is the main ingredient of bánh củ năng hấp, chè mã thầy. In Thailand it is called somwang (สมหวัง) and it often is used in a dessert entitled, tabtim krob (ทับทิมกรอบ). In India it is known commonly as Singhada, shingada, or singoda.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eleocharis dulcis.

• Porcher Michel H. et al. 1995 - 2020, Sorting Eleocharis Names. Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database - A Work in Progress. Institute for Land & Food Resources. The University of Melbourne (2004)