What are these nuts?

December 30, 2010 7:05 PM

What kind of nuts are these?

A friend is living in china and one of his students gave him these nuts in this package. They taste sort of like nutmeg I think, does anyone know what they are?

posted by boobjob to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

Macadamia?
posted by essexjan at 7:09 PM on December 30, 2010

Best answer: The package says:
Cathay Hickory. Cream flavour.
posted by Sallysings at 7:16 PM on December 30, 2010

Response by poster: Definitely not a macadamia, the edible part inside is shaped more like a very small walnut. It is very difficult to get the little pieces out of the shell.
posted by boobjob at 7:19 PM on December 30, 2010

Going on what sallysings said, are they hickory nuts?
posted by jenny76 at 7:25 PM on December 30, 2010

Is it possible that these are hickory nuts? Apparently, cathay is a species of hickory.
posted by mhum at 7:27 PM on December 30, 2010

Betel nut?
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 7:27 PM on December 30, 2010

or what jenny76 already said
posted by mhum at 7:28 PM on December 30, 2010

Definitely look like hickory nuts. We had hickory trees when I was a child (also walnut trees) and the hickory nuts were harder to crack, had the same kind of convoluted meats although smaller and not as tasty as walnuts.
posted by Anitanola at 11:44 PM on December 30, 2010