A foodie was left scratching his head after spotting an unusual item in an Asian grocery store – before it was revealed to be a unique type of nut.
Food and culture blogger Adrian Widjy saw bat-shaped black nuts called Ling Jiao or buffalo chestnuts in a supermarket near his home and had to try them himself.
Followers were impressed by the appearance of the “otherworldly” looking food which was reminiscent of a Halloween decoration.
Others were familiar with the chestnut and said they had tried it before and grew up eating it.
“What is this,” Adrian, from Sydney, asked in an online message. video when he spotted a container full of nuts at Marketplace by Hen Lee in Burwood.
Food and culture blogger Adrian Widjy shocked his followers after revealing that strange bat-like supermarket finds were actually edible water chestnuts or Ling Jiao.
Ling Jiao, also known as water caltrops and water chestnuts, are not nuts but ornate seeds that grow in water and have a crunchy texture and sweet, nutty flavor.
Adrian bought a handful of chestnuts and boiled them for 15 minutes before tasting them himself.
He was interested to see that they had a “pure white interior” and a “woodier” chestnut smell and taste.
More than 333,800 users viewed Adrian’s ‘fascinating’ video posted on his social media and were left shocked by the ‘creepy’ weirdos.
“I thought it was a Halloween decoration,” one woman said and another added: “I thought you were eating a bat.”
Adrian bought the chestnuts and boiled them before tasting them himself. He was interested to see that they had a “pure white interior” and a “woodier” chestnut smell and taste.
Many were impressed by the appearance of the otherworldly food while others were familiar with the chestnut saying they had tried it before and even grew up eating it.
“Why are you eating Maleficent’s horns?” joked a third.
‘What ??!! I thought it was some sort of mini devil’s head!!’ someone exclaimed and another remarked, “It’s like something out of Harry Potter.”
Others shared their own nostalgic memories of chestnuts, with one saying: “In Malaysian-Chinese culture, we have them during the Mid-Autumn Festival! Bring back childhood memories.
“We ate it growing up. They are easily available in India. The Indians call them Singhara, and it’s a funny name,” replied a second.
‘My favorite food. I’m also trying to plant some in my pond,” someone chimed in.
