# Ever eaten acorns? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310 "2015-02-22T02:05:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/1 "2015-02-22T02:05:04Z")
Or acorn-based foods? I read that acorn starch jelly is eaten in Korea, although not necessarily popular: [Dotori-muk - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dotorimuk) I’ve never seen it in a Korean restaurant, but I haven’t visited all of them yet. I’d like to try it and some other dishes. You can make stuff with acorns yourself, but it can be a pain to leach the tanins out. I read about a guy storing them in his toilet tank so that they’d get flushed with fresh water every time someone flushed. > **[What the Squirrels Know: Acorns for Dinner (Published 2010)](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/dining/13acorn.html)** > > Harvesting acorns for dotorimuk, or acorn jelly — a yard-to-table Korean delicacy. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/2 "2015-02-22T02:10:37Z")
I have had the acorn jelly while visiting my wife’s relatives in Korea. Let’s just say I got it down without grimacing too much, managed a polite smile, and survived. Not terrible, but no desire to try it again. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/3 "2015-02-22T02:28:56Z")
When I was a kid, I used to live in the middle of an acorn forest. The acorns were so abundant, I could fill a five gallon bucket with in minutes. The neighborhood kids and I used to have sling shot wars with acorns as our ammunition. But nope, never did eat one despite being up to my eyeballs in them. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/4 "2015-02-22T02:42:46Z")
I had a hoecake made from leached acorn flour. I don’t want another. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/5 "2015-02-22T02:49:06Z")
I’ve eaten acorns from a local oak tree. Just another nut. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/6 "2015-02-22T03:16:02Z")
My sister tried processing them once. Apparently you had repeatedly boil them to get rid of the bitterness. Never ate them (I didn’t, and I don’t think she did. I think she gave up) Brian ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/7 "2015-02-22T04:03:36Z")
I have leached them and turned them into flour and made honey sweetened cookie-pucks, and then we tried turning said pucks further into ‘beer’ recreating a paleolithic north american native find. leached acorns are better cooked into stews with squirrel, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/8 "2015-02-22T05:37:03Z")
When I was a kid, part of our grade-school curriculum was a locally-written fiction book about a Chumash Indian boy–the Chumash settled around the area where I lived. The only thing I remember about the book was that it had a section on making flour from acorns, and how you had to leach out the harmful stuff before grinding it. I kinda wanted to try an acorn cake back in those days, but I got over it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/9 "2015-02-22T09:34:47Z")
When I was a kid, there was a girl - a classmate of mine - who lived on our street, who would eat anything. Kids would just hand her something and she’d eat it . . . as long as it was something she could physically consume. Including acorns. Mud pies too. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/10 "2015-02-22T11:31:35Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > When I was a kid, I used to live in the middle of an acorn forest. The acorns were so abundant, I could fill a five gallon bucket with in minutes. > > The neighborhood kids and I used to have sling shot wars with acorns as our ammunition. > > But nope, never did eat one despite being up to my eyeballs in them. Same deal here, although in the woods in our neighborhood, the acorns had to compete with the [gumballs](http://bobklips.com/bobs_website/LIQUSTYR-sunny-26Apr06-Cols.jpg). Where I live now, not many acorns, but the gumballs are so abundant that I have this fantasy where they briefly supplant Bitcoin as the hip alternate currency, and I can cash in and retire. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/11 "2015-02-22T12:58:56Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I have leached them and turned them into flour and made honey sweetened cookie-pucks, and then we tried turning said pucks further into ‘beer’ recreating a paleolithic north american native find. leached acorns are better cooked into stews with squirrel, IMHO. I’m assuming to properly convert the acorn starch to EtOH, you’d have to either use the chew-and-spit method or use some other added amylase. Otherwise you just get acorn flavoring. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/12 "2015-02-22T13:21:46Z")
I’ve had dotorimuk many times in Korean restaurants. I like it! ---
**Author:** ![Donegal\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Donegal\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donegal_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/13 "2015-02-22T15:33:02Z")
I remember the Euell Gibbons books (Stalking the Wild Asparagus) and the Firefox books both telling us how wonderful Acorn flour cookies were. So, being the dutiful wanna-be settler, I worked for days on the acorn flour and turned out some of the most inedible hockey pucks in history. Building my own cabin started looking a little less exciting after that experience. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/14 "2015-02-23T02:36:22Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > I’m assuming to properly convert the acorn starch to EtOH, you’d have to either use the chew-and-spit method or use some other added amylase. Otherwise you just get acorn flavoring. The cooking breaks it down. We tried it, it was sort of bland/glum. It could definitely have used some herbs and spices as a gruitt. As cookies, they were also fairly bland but with the bitter compounds washed out, not bad. Definitely would have been better in a stew - the stew made with the pith from cat tails was not bad [squirrel, cat tail pith, wild onions and wild greens] but I think adding split acorns might have made it more like it had potatoes to bulk it up. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/15 "2015-02-23T03:05:54Z")
I have come across a few acorns that were actually edible, but those are the exceptions. As others have noted, you’re more likely to find them pretty bitter. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/16 "2015-02-23T03:12:20Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > The cooking breaks it down. We tried it, it was sort of bland/glum. How sweet was it after the heat treatment? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/17 "2015-02-23T06:50:16Z")
I live in southern CA, and grew up surrounded by oak trees. And I have some minor element of local Kumeyaay Indian ancestry. I know lots of metate/mortero sites. And…for some reason, I’ve never had acorn bread! I do need to repair that oversight! ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-eaten-acorns/713310/18 "2015-05-04T11:49:08Z")
I finally had dotorimuk at a Korean restaurant in Manhattan over the weekend. Not much flavor on its own. The hydrcolloid had a low shear strength and broke so easily that picking up late pieces with chop sticks wasn’t happening. I liked it, but it wasn’t anything special IMO.