Wait, Are Those The Little Yellow Balls That Stink? (Eating Gingko Nuts)

 

(image from pixabay.com)

This was the year that I actually ate gingko nuts. I posted about it on my facebook page, and also the food under foot facebook page, and immediately one of my friends asked, "Wait, are those the little yellow balls that stink?"

Indeed, they are.

And that is why I have always avoided trying them. But this year, a couple things changed. First, for some reason, when I looked down among all the fruit on the ground, there were some nuts that had already naturally separated from their stinky fruit covering. Second, while wearing a mask, the stink was substantially lessened.

I scooped a handful of the nuts up, put them in my pocket, and headed home to watch videos on how to prepare, cook, and eat gingko nuts.

I brought them home and rinsed them as best as I could. It had been a few days until I got to them....and I learned that the nuts should actually have been kept in the refrigerator in the interim. They had not, but our house is quite chilly and it was only a couple days, so I think it was ok.

I decided I would prepare them three different ways, to try three methods of cooking and seeing which worked best, and which tasted best in the end. So first, I cracked a few of the shells and put those nuts on a baking tray, to bake at 350 F for 12 minutes. Then I cracked some and completely took them out of their shells. These I would saute in oil. Finally the ones still in the basket: those I would saute in oil right in their shells, which would cause the shell to burst open and the nut to explode forth, bright and green.

I cracked the shells of these nuts, and put them in the oven at 350 for 12 minutes:

 

These nuts were being sauteed in oil, in uncracked shells:

They exploded just as they were supposed to!

Here are the uncooked shelled nuts, ready to be sauteed:

When they are cooked they turn bright green: 

The three piles of cooked nuts: First: sauteed in their shell, second: sauteed without their shell, third: cracked and baked (then removed from shell after being baked):

 They were all non-stinky, and incredibly delicious. I enjoyed the baked nuts best, but it was close, they all tasted very good.

CAUTION: Gingko nuts should not be consumed in large quantities. Even cooked, they contain toxic compounds that can lead to headaches, dizziness, even seizures. It is recommended adults eat no more than 10 at one time, children should not have more than 5.

See gingko nuts prepared in South Korea where they are a common street food:

If you are interested, check out yesterday's post on tincturing the golden gingko leaves.

Gingko Leaf Tincture

I hope you all have been having as beautiful a fall as I have! It's been gorgeous here in Western PA. Pandemic isolation has spurred me to go on long walks every morning after dropping my daughter at school, as well as asking friends if they want to join me on outdoor, socially distant walks. To my delight I have rekindled old friendships and even made some new friends! On my agenda this fall: process acorns into flour, tincture gingko leaves, and try cooking and eating gingko nuts. 

Two friends and I met at a local park to gather burr oak acorns, which are large acorns with only a small percentage of tanins - the perfect acorn for making flour! However, when we got to the beautiful burr oak tree, we found the city had "cleaned up" all the acorns! Oh no! 

But while we were there one of my friends wanted to show us a gorgeous grandpa gingko tree - so big and all decked out in golden leaves, with a carpet of gold beneath it. So beautiful! We admired the tree and the fallen leaves, and since we had our (empty) baskets anyway, we decided to gather the gingko leaves.

Then I went home and chopped some leaves, filled a small jar, then covered them with 80 proof vodka.

You may be wondering how we were able to lounge comfortably under a gingko tree, especially if you associate them with the stinky fruit they are known for! Gingko trees are either male or female, and the female are the ones with the stinky yellow fruit (next post!) This big old guy was a male tree, hence all leaves and no fruit.

Gingko leaves are great for circulation, especially for the brain and eyes. The tincture is good to help memory. It may seem odd to use yellow leaves that have fallen off the tree...you'd think the summer green vibrant leaves are the ones you'd want, but when tincturing gingko it's the autumn golden leaves you are looking for. You can find a lot more information about the benefits of gingko and what dose is best by doing a quick search online.

I hope you are having a wonderful fall! If you feel lonely and you are able to get out into the woods, go there, you won't be disappointed. Even when I am alone I'm surrounded by trees, leaves, water, birds, animals...I've seen two owls (a barred and an eastern screech), black squirrels, gray squirrels, chipmunks, deer, and lots of beaver activity (though I have yet to spot the beaver!)