SEA--where to buy peeled chestnuts

[MsMaryMc]

I love braised chestnuts, want to serve them at Christmas dinner, but the little suckers are just too much trouble to peel. I'd heard you could buy them peeled and frozen in Asian markets, but I looked at Uwajimaya and couldn't find them. Any other suggestions? Frozen would be good, vacuum-packed will do. The ones in jars (unsweetened, not the candied ones) look less appealing to me--has anybody used them? Are they anything like fresh, or mushy and past their prime, like I'm imagining?

[drariella]

I realize this question happened a LOOONG time ago, but I just tried to buy frozen chestnuts (already peeled and cooked) from igourmet, and discovered they don't sell them any more. I have an outstanding chestnut soup recipe, but where in the heck am I going to find chestnuts? I've looked all over the internet; I don't know if ones in fluid in jars would give me the same consistency as the frozen ones.

[drariella]

Just in case anybody's looking, I found an internet order company - Girolami Farms.

[staffstuff]

In jars at Safeway.

[MsMaryMc]

Thanks for all the ideas. I was looking in the freezer case at Uwajimaya--I guess I need to look with the snack foods. H-Mart is near where I work, so that's easy. I'm braising them in chicken stock and a little butter, so hopefully these will work--otherwise, i guess it's back to peeling the fresh ones (and that means I probably won't be making them so often!)

[oliveoyl]

I saw them in jars at PFI a week or so ago ... and always find the jarred type at Whole Foods & DeLaurenti's too .. good luck.

[oliveoyl]

I love fresh roasted chestnuts .. we used to buy them from street merchants who roasted them over an open fire when I was a kid! Yummmmm!!!
... I've tried the frozen ones at both Asian markets and TJ's, tried the canned-jarred varieties too .. BUT if you are serving them as roasted chestnuts solo none stand up to fresh chestnuts roasted .. if you are really braising them, cooking them in some sort of liquid then the other easier to prepare varieties might work fine. I've used chestnuts from a jar (cooked and peeled) in stuffings etc and while they have been fine they don't have that same crumbley texture that the fresh ones do. For all these reasons, I've given up & just use fresh.

[paulj]

At this time of the year Trader Joes carries frozen roasted chestnuts. They still have the shells, but they are split and fairly easy to peel.
paulj

[chococat]

Any Asian grocery will have them- vacuum packed in little pouches for around a 2 bucks a bag, they're often in the snack foods section. I think they are quite tasty, sometimes you'll get a burned or funny looking one in the bag but they work fine for most recipes.

[kirkj]

I have tried two brands in the 3.5 oz. vacuum bags. Both are roasted and peeled and tasty, but I prefer Wang's in the orange bag over the other in the green. I always see one or the other on sale for around $1.

[hannaone]

Here are some places that I have seen them

Paldo World Market
1720 Highway 99, in Lynnwood

99 Ranch Market
www.99ranch.com
22511 Hwy 99
Edmonds, WA 98026

H-Mart
31217 Pacific Hwy S
Federal Way, WA 98003