Plant atlas Short
Water Chestnut Stays Crunchy After You Cook It
Water Chestnut · แห้ว · Eleocharis dulcis
Water Chestnut — แห้ว (haeo) — Eleocharis dulcis.
It stays crunchy even after you cook it, because its corm's cell walls resist softening with heat, while many cooked vegetables soften fast. The part you eat is the corm. In cell-culture studies, peel extract showed antibacterial activity. Inside the corm you'll find potassium, manganese, vitamin B6, copper, and fiber. Potassium supports normal blood pressure and muscle and nerve function; manganese helps build bone and turn food into energy; vitamin B6 helps make red blood cells and run everyday energy metabolism; copper helps the body put iron to use; and fiber adds bulk that helps you feel full and keeps digestion moving. Thai cooks build desserts around that crunch: for Thapthim Krob, diced corm is coated in tapioca and served cold in sweet coconut milk, often with jackfruit; for Tako Haew, the corm sits in a soft pandan pudding under salted coconut cream, set in little cups folded from pandan leaves. It grows like rice. It grows in flooded mud, so where water-borne parasites are a risk, eat water chestnuts only after cooking. Follow Longevity Biome for a new Thai plant every day.
Thapthim Krob — ทับทิมกรอบ (tap-tim-krob)
Tako Haew — ตะโก้แห้ว (ta-go-haew)
Source: Zhan G, Pan LQ, Mao SB, Zhang W (2014). Antibacterial properties of Eleocharis dulcis peel extracts. Eur Food Res Technol 238. DOI:10.1007/s00217-013-2151-2
Educational content, not medical advice! Consult your doctor before changing diet or medication.
#LongevityBiome #ThaiHerbs #WaterChestnut
Food and nutrients
Rich in: potassium, manganese, vitamin B6, copper, fiber
Research context
Water chestnut peel flavonoids show antioxidant and antibacterial activity — Eur Food Res Technol, 2014 (cell-culture study)