How To Easily Eat And Prepare Water Caltrops

Shoppers at Asian and specialty markets who stumble upon what looks like little wooden carvings of bats may find themselves perplexed — there are entire Reddit threads dedicated to figuring out what exactly they are, or joking that they appear to be tiny demons. Adding to the confusion, some people may be under the impression this "bat nut" is a water chestnut, which it's sometimes mistakenly referred to as. In reality, this is something called a water caltrop, and it's its own distinct ingredient that's worth exploring for the tasty and intriguing texture and flavor it can bring to dishes. 

Water caltrops grow mainly in Asia and Europe. They're aquatic nut-like vegetables, with their pods growing in ponds and lakes. Because they have toxins, water caltrops absolutely have to be cooked to be consumed — but once they are, they boast nutritional value with calcium, iron, fiber, zinc, and potassium, and are low in fat. They're starchy with a dry, crumbly texture, like a unique combination of a nut, potato, and shortbread. In terms of their flavor, water caltrops have some chestnut sweetness with a musky, grassy, hay-like quality. Complex on their own, they're a popular street food in Taiwan simply roasted, which is worth a try to get to know their consistency and taste before adding them to recipes. From there, water caltrops can do everything from elevating a winter chicken and veggie stir fry to becoming one of your new favorite types of flours to learn to use.

The first step to incorporating water caltrops into any dish is cooking them to remove those toxins. Add washed caltrops to boiling water with salt and any other spices you wish to use, and keep them at medium heat for 30 minutes. They'll still be tough to break open after that — using a nutcracker is your best bet — but the vegetable's flesh inside will be ready. Alternatively, you can roast them for 30 to 40 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

You can add salt and seasoning and pop water caltrops solo, or toss them into that stir fry for nuttiness and earthiness. They just as easily work in soups and stews. Try swapping them in for the chestnuts in a creamy mushroom soup or letting them bring some texture to a sweet potato curry soup — water caltrops are also a texture boost and dose of sweetness for any of your best curry recipes. You can bake already boiled and peeled caltrops with cheese, too, complementing their nuttiness with parmesan or contrasting it with a sharp cheddar. Crushed water caltrops are a fun burst of toothsome texture to sprinkle over a salad, or you can more completely ground them into flour that you can use to reinvent your go-to pancake recipe or bring sweet, earthy flavor to breads. For a dessert twist, candy them with a simple candied walnut recipe, with butter or honey and sugar.