What are the other names for water chestnut, and how much was it per jin in January 2020?

When it comes to water chestnut (dili), everyone finds it rather unfamiliar, but it is actually what we call biqi (Chinese water chestnut), a fruit and vegetable with a sweet, crisp and tasty flavor and plenty of juice. The water chestnut is rich in nutritional value; it can not only be eaten fresh, but also stewed in soup, and when processed into canned goods, pastries and so on, it also has its own unique flavor. The water chestnut is cultivated in all parts of China, generally one crop a year, and it has fairly high requirements for its growing environment. So what are the other names for water chestnut? Roughly how much was it per jin in January 2020?

I. What are the other names for water chestnut?

The other names for water chestnut are horsetail, water chestnut, shao, fuzi, wuyu, puji, biqi, qiancong, tuli and cigui'er, because it has a very strong ability to adapt to the environment, and wild distribution is found in many countries in swamps, low-lying areas and other places. In China, apart from the alpine regions, it is distributed almost everywhere. Nowadays it is quite widely cultivated artificially, and the more famous producing areas include Guilin in Guangxi, Yuhang in Zhejiang, Gaoyou and Suzhou in Jiangsu, Fuzhou in Fujian, Xiaogan, Shayang and Tuanfeng in Hubei, Yangliu Township in Lujiang County and Xuanzhou in Anhui, and so on.

Wild water chestnut has relatively thin leaf-like stems, is shorter overall, and has relatively small corms; the cultivated type of water chestnut has thicker leaves and rhizomes, is taller overall, and has larger corms.

In terms of cultivation types, it can be divided into flat-navel water chestnut and concave-navel water chestnut, mainly distinguished by looking at the bottom of the corm to see whether it has a concave navel or a flat navel. Generally speaking, concave-navel water chestnut has a high content of water and soluble solids, tastes less fibrous, and is relatively sweet. Flat-navel water chestnut has somewhat coarser flesh, tastes more fibrous, and has a high starch content, with the advantage of being resistant to storage.

II. Roughly how much was water chestnut per jin in January 2020?

In January 2020, the price of water chestnut varied somewhat from place to place, roughly between 1.5-5 yuan per jin, with fairly large fluctuations. The price of water chestnut is affected by factors such as variety, place of origin, specification, and whether it is peeled. According to relevant websites, we can learn that recent water chestnut price changes are as follows:

At the Jinhua Agricultural Products Wholesale Market in Zhejiang Province, water chestnut is 3 yuan per jin; at the Zhougudui Agricultural Products Wholesale Market in Hefei, Anhui, water chestnut is 4 yuan per jin; at the Nanhuanqiao Agricultural and Sideline Products Wholesale Market in Suzhou, water chestnut is 1.6 yuan per jin; at the Shantou Agricultural and Sideline Products Wholesale Center in Guangdong, water chestnut is 4 yuan per jin.

Winter is exactly the good time to eat water chestnut, and on the streets one often comes across vendors selling it peeled. Some consumers, finding peeling it themselves troublesome, will choose to buy this kind, and the price is a little more expensive. So how do you quickly peel the unpeeled water chestnuts you bought yourself?

Use a fruit knife to cut off the root part of the water chestnut, then turn it around and cut off the top bud part, so that only a ring of dark skin remains on the water chestnut; then use a smaller fruit knife to slowly peel along the outline of the water chestnut, applying light force when peeling and cutting downward at a slant. Overall, control the force when peeling and keep changing the angle, and you will be able to peel it clean.