Where can I buy these Chinese nuts?
December 15, 2006 4:43 PM Subscribe
Where can I buy these Chinese nuts?
My boyfriend's parents have carried these very tasty nuts with them from China, which my boyfriend tells me are called xiangfei nuts (香榧). I've googled around a little, and I think they come from the Chinese Nutmeg (Torreya grandis). I'd love to buy more of them, but all I can find are people selling seeds for planting. And I don't have the room or patience for a nut orchard.
His parents, who live in South Carolina, say they've never seen them sold in the U.S., but I don't want to give up yet. We've looked in the big grocery stores in Chinatown to no avail. Does anyone know of any online or NYC brick-and-mortar places I can buy these? Or can at least confirm that I'm looking at the correct species?
My boyfriend's parents have carried these very tasty nuts with them from China, which my boyfriend tells me are called xiangfei nuts (香榧). I've googled around a little, and I think they come from the Chinese Nutmeg (Torreya grandis). I'd love to buy more of them, but all I can find are people selling seeds for planting. And I don't have the room or patience for a nut orchard.
His parents, who live in South Carolina, say they've never seen them sold in the U.S., but I don't want to give up yet. We've looked in the big grocery stores in Chinatown to no avail. Does anyone know of any online or NYC brick-and-mortar places I can buy these? Or can at least confirm that I'm looking at the correct species?
Best answer: In Japan, it seems to be called Japanese plum-yew, Japanese nutmeg tree, Japanese torreya (in english) and there are a bunch of Japanese characters on that page which are also probably names. Here is a Chinese page.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 5:49 PM on December 15, 2006
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 5:49 PM on December 15, 2006
Korean plum-yew: 충청남도 화훼정보시스템
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Are they good salted?
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 6:08 PM on December 15, 2006
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Are they good salted?
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 6:08 PM on December 15, 2006
Response by poster: Thanks for the leads so far - maybe knowing there are also Japanese and Korean varieties and alternate names will help me in my search.
They are quite delicious - sort of a woodsy taste, and drier than other nuts I've had; not greasy at all.
posted by twoporedomain at 6:19 PM on December 15, 2006
They are quite delicious - sort of a woodsy taste, and drier than other nuts I've had; not greasy at all.
posted by twoporedomain at 6:19 PM on December 15, 2006
I haven't seen this nut anywhere in the U.S. But you might enjoy knowing that it's associated with the most famous beauty in Chinese history, 西施. According to folklore, it's her favorite food. In her birthplace, the oldest 香榧子 trees you can find today are over 1000 years old.
posted by of strange foe at 7:43 PM on December 15, 2006
posted by of strange foe at 7:43 PM on December 15, 2006
You may have a problem finding a Chinese market that sells them in the US. Most such markets are run by folks from Canton (Guangdong).
I found one brief mention
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 7:56 PM on December 15, 2006
I found one brief mention
[Suzhou, 3.5 hours by bus to ShangHai] is also famous for its pearl, xiangfei (a kind of rare nuts) and silk costumes.It may be that Cantonese-Americans don't have a taste for ShangHai nuts.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 7:56 PM on December 15, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by CKmtl at 5:09 PM on December 15, 2006