Nuts

Chinese Chestnut

A tier

Chinese chestnut is the kitchen name for Castanea mollissima nuts common in modern roasting pans and grocery bins, especially where American chestnut no longer supplies the landscape. Flavour is sweet and mild when properly cooked; texture is soft and crumbly-moist. These are the everyday chestnuts many North American shoppers actually roast. A good Chinese chestnut is heavy and fresh in season. A bad one is desiccated or mouldy in the bag corner. Score deeply, roast until fragrant, peel while warm, and eat with a little salt—or chill peeled meats for next-day recipes. For flour and puree, processors may blend origins; for roasting romance, current-crop Chinese or hybrid orchard nuts are the realistic choice.