I recently made a stir-fry and threw in the ubiquitous water chestnuts, something my mom always did (though never the baby corn – she was fancy, but not that fancy). My youngest zeroed in on them, perhaps to draw attention from the kale she left on her plate, and was full of questions. “I love that they are crunchy like apples but have no actual flavor at all,” she said.
Behold, the lowly water chestnut. I wanted another recipe to showcase these crunchy nubbins, but aside from wrapping them in bacon, there aren’t many built recipes around the water chestnut. Like jicama, it’s mostly added to dishes for texture. With that in mind, I mixed them with ground turkey to add crunch to sesame-spiked patties. Dig deep in the back of your pantry, find that can of water chestnuts and let them fulfill their crunchy destiny.
Asian Turkey and Water Chestnut Patties
4 servings
1 lb. ground turkey
1 8-oz. can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 cup chopped green onions
2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• In a large bowl, mix the ground turkey, water chestnuts, green onions, ginger, sesame oil, salt and pepper until thoroughly combined. Scoop ¼ cup of the mixture and form into a thin patty. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
• In a large skillet, warm 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook the patties 3 to 4 minutes, until brown. Flip, cover and cook another 3 to 4 minutes, until the patties are cooked through. Remove and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining patties. Serve with soy sauce or Sriracha, if desired.
This article appears in February 2016.