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From: marc@hpltca.UUCP (marc)
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: Re: water chestnuts
Message-ID: <9400001@hpltca.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 20-Aug-85 20:39:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: hpltca.9400001
Posted: Tue Aug 20 20:39:00 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 25-Aug-85 05:29:28 EDT
References: <3711@decwrl.UUCP>
Organization: HP Loveland Instrument Technology Center
Lines: 20

If you have never had the pleasure of eating fresh water chestnuts, as 
opposed to the canned type, you have not lived.  The down side is that the
fresh kind take *forever* to peel, even using a super-sharp paring knife.

I too have opened a can of water chestnuts and found a bad smell.  I then
checked the sealed lip of the can for corrosion, and yes, there was some
blue-green powdery crud.  I assumed that the seal of the can had been 
breached, either by the corrosion or by impact which then gave the corrosion a
path into the contents, and threw the can away.  It seems that some of the
oriental canning plants still use three piece cans (top, bottom, and side)
sealed with a solder.  The rims of this type of can are prone to damage either
from impact, moisture, or a combination of the two.

Get fresh water chestnuts at your local oriental food market and enjoy!
Be prepared to spend at least 1/2 hour peeling enough for one good wok-full of
food, however.

Marc Clarke
Loveland Technology Center
Hewlett-Packard Company