In the Chinatown in downtown Manhattan. In a box next to the live crabs and the shrimp and the various exotic berries and all that, there are a bunch of what look like black plastic handlebar mustaches. The signs are all in Chinese, so I have no idea what they’re called, or if they’re animal, vegetable or fungus. Does anyone know what the things I’m describing are?
Hmm. Look like mustaches in the sense that they’re sort of fuzzy? Fat choy or black moss, maybe?
Thanks, Pork Rind, those look like the right things. So that’s what water chestnuts look like in the raw - very interesting, never would have guessed.
When I saw Kimstu’s post, my reaction was “that’s gotta be it, but why do they comb them at the stores where cmkeller shops?” But when I clicked Pork Rind’s link, my reaction was “oh yeah—that’s really gotta be it.” But man, now I REALLY want to know for sure what the fuck they are. I’d even try one if you offered it to me. And is it a faux pas to dunk them in the wasabi?
Can’t sleep. Water Caltrop will eat me.
Confusingly, they’re known as water chestnuts, but are not the same thing as the water chestnuts most commonly found in Chinese cuisine. Common water chestnuts are the tuber of an aquatic rush related to Tigernuts(Chufa) - I’ve seen Water Caltrop plants offered for sale as pond ornamentals here - but never actually seen the seeds before.
I think cmkeller has been looking at those things upside-down. They are clearly not handlebar mustaches but horned devil-faces.
Satan’s nuts.
I’ve only ever seen these called “ling jiao” (rhombus-shaped horns). In Taiwan they’re a very common street food that get roasted:
Always been too scared of them to try =/ Freaky little demons.
No, they’re buffalo heads.
And they often carry disease that can infest your gut. It’s widespread in many places!
Heh, with Halloween looming I was going to ask if they were made of wax.