These chestnuts were grown at the Finger Lakes Nut Farm in New York and at Perfect Circle in Vermont, as Perfect Circle mostly sources chestnuts from this farm to grow as trees. These come from Chinese Chestnut trees - Castanea mollisima . The chestnut growers of China have been selecting for superior nuts for 1000's of years. Chinese nuts are sweeter and more dense then most of the other species of chestnuts. These are medium to extra large.
These nuts are very fresh and ready to eat. They are delicious raw-- sweet and crisp, and we encourage everyone to try them raw!
Cooked chestnuts are delicious as well, and cooking is very easy. They can be roasted or boiled. See the directions below for complete information on cooking Chinese chestnuts from Perfect Circle's good friend and chestnut guru, Michael Nave.
Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator until ready to use.
The most interesting way, and most common way, to cook chestnuts in China is to roast chestnuts at low temperatures (240F or less) for extended periods of time (60 minutes or more). Roasting at lower temperatures for longer periods of time breaks down the dense Chinese nut and fully releases its flavors. It also gives the nut a softer texture, more like an American or European chestnut. A Chinese chestnut that is cooked at 350F or above for short periods of time (30 minutes or less), will normally have a burnt or hard exterior and an almost uncooked interior. The flavor will not be well developed. Chinese chestnuts can also be cooked by boiling for 30-60 minutes. Boiling is not optimal for American or European chestnuts because the nuts tend to get very soggy and fall apart which also makes them difficult to peel. Because Chinese nuts are denser, they don’t absorb much water and tend not to fall apart after boiling, which also makes them as easy to peel after boiling as they are before boiling.
