Some of you might know that when I get interested in something I sometimes can go overboard. Like the time around five years ago when I discovered only-can-be-found-on-Kauai Taro Ko chips. I called Dale the owner/only operator of the company and he agreed to ship them to me. For awhile I would order boxes and boxes of um.
Well, lately I've been low-carb dieting again. Peanuts are a good low-carb snack, and Wendell makes good boiled peanuts, but we've never been able to find big-like-Ruger-Market peanuts.
Until now. I found out that you can get HAYUGE peanuts from Koha Oriental Foods. But they're wholesalers and I wasn't sure if they would sell to regular people. Wendell called me yesterday and said, "I can buy the peanuts from Koha. They're cheap . . . only $2/pound." I said, "Holy moly, that's great!!" He said, "Only thing - we gotta buy 50 pounds." I said, "That's okay. Buy um, buy um, buy um!!" He repeated, "50 pounds!" I said, "I'll give you the money!!" So he bought um.
Well, it turns out that raw peanuts are actually kinda light, and 50 pounds of raw peanuts IS A LOT of peanuts!!
But . . . not to worry, the shelf life is long (9 months in pantry, 1 year refrigerated) . . . and I've already given away/sold off a good amount so everything's under control. For real.
Wendell uses the recipe from What Hawaii Likes to Eat.
2 pounds raw peanuts in shell
1/2 cup Hawaiian salt
2 to 3 whole star anise
1 tbs. sugar
(Wendell also adds some orange peel and cinnamon stick. He uses 3 tbs. sugar for a double recipe.)
Place peanuts in a large pot. Add salt, star anise and sugar. Cover with water.
Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally, or until peanuts are tender but firm. Add more water as necessary to keep peanuts covered with water. Adjust seasoning as necessary. Cool and drain. (Wendell checked the pot every 1/2 hour to replenish the water. He said that his double recipe took 2 hours, 45 minutes to cook.)
Yeehaw!!
14 comments:
Can't wait to taste it! :)
J: I get your obsession like with stuff, I'm the same way. When I sewed I had boxes of materials and patterns that I was "gonna sew" soon. Ha! My most recent was fluorescent goldfish they sell at Wal-Mart (why oh why? I have two dogs and one parrot already) so I got the stuff slowly first with the bowl and thank gawd that's all I got. Cuz I read more about goldfish, even one, I found out they need a MINIMUM of 20 gallons! Why cuz they poop a lot and they are not like other fresh water fish. So the cute goldfish bowl I bought? I would have to dump half the water out DAILY to keep it clean. Then I need a pump, lights, etc. That $10 gold fish would cost me over $100 in equip. So thank gawd it got nipped in the bud before I bought more stuff....but it's lessons learned from hurling myself into a "hobby" or "project". And I'm like that with food, I'll love something and must have it daily and then, finally I get tired of it. But... 50 lbs. of peanuts would 'kinda' put the breaks on it. Though I was once obsessed with boiled peanuts like you but it thankfully died down....though I then got into the fresh edamae kick....but luckily they're easily and cheaply available. The main thing is if you happy and full then it's all good.-N
sounds so good!
I took samples to work on Friday and took orders. I'll be bringing um in on Monday.
Wait, N . . . fluorescent goldfish? I gotta go google that now. Do they glow in the dark?
Kat, Wendell makes um kinda crunchy, and that's how I like um.
Oh HOW FUN! I just made 4 pounds of it today. I buy them for $2 a pound at the Open Market. I'm afraid we're purists. I just make it with Hawaiian salt. I then give a bunch of them away to relatives, neighbors and my brother.
Thanks for the tip, Kay. I need to check out the open markets more often.
poor, poor Wendell!! hahaha slaving over the stove with 50 lbs of peanuts (oops, maybe 30lbs??) thanks Jalna!
I know, Les . . . maybe I should try make um myself, yah. But, at least his softballs team(s) getting boiled peanut pupus. And guess what . . . we only got 12 pounds left.
Oooooooh. I can smell them, it looks so delicious! Love the Ruger Market peanuts but they are expensive. Now I get their yatsumezuke instead to eat with my rice. Fermented vegetables are very good probiotics for the gut so good thing I love my takuan and kimchee.
However, Wendell's peanuts look so ono, maybe the next time I go I'll splurge and get a bag of their peanuts.
Me too, Aunty . . . love Ruger Market's peanuts, but so expensive. I haven't been there in ages. Gotta go check out the yatsumezuke. Been putting stuff like that on my tofu since I'm not eating rice lately.
Yea, that star anise is the kicker! I, too, love boiled peanuts (way better than the dry roasted stuff that are at baseball games on the mainland --- those guys don't know what's good!).
Oh you so lucky!! I've loved boiled peanuts since the Honolulu Stadium days when the boiled peanuts came in brown paper bags I think. Hard to remember because I was sooooooooooooooo young back then. HAHAH! Sam's Club has some that you can buy by the pound at the poke counter that are pretty good but Wendell's sounds super ono! I was surprised that the raw peanuts aren't always readily available and when they are, almost cost as much as the boiled peanuts that are already boiled.
Ha ha ha, the comment like Anonymous makes me think that life is fun! (And it can be). Jalna,that's lots of peanuts! Holy macaroni! The cooked peanuts look great!
My parents loved boiled peanuts. I didn't like it much till I was older. You're such a kick, that's why I love your blog!
Post a Comment