Post by Chesapeake on May 10, 2019 17:46:25 GMT -5
Out of respect for the seriousness of the previous peanut post, I'm posting this separately, for those who can't get enough of Southern culture.
Much like maidrites, there is a mystique about boiled peanuts. You need green (just harvested) peanuts (preferably Virginia Creepers), still soft in the shell (i.e. not dried-out). For that reason you can get the real thing only in season, meaning when they first come out of the ground; and you can get them only locally, because the quick drying-out time (a few days) discourages shipping..
Lest anyone start rolling on the floor and moaning in frustration, note that it is possible to boil dried-out peanuts but it takes about a day's worth of extra soaking (in brine), and still it's just not the same - kind of like inauthentic maidrites, I imagine. The cooking process itself involves soaking overnight in a solution of salt and water about like what you'd find just off, say, Cape Hatteras; then pouring all that used-up brine out and simmering for about eight hours in a fresh 12-quart pot of the same solution.
It's good practice to sample the peanuts every so often during the cooking process and adjusting the amount of salt to taste, though be aware that this is habit-forming, and inevitably leads to finishing with half the number of peanuts you started out with.
For all these reasons, it's a lot simpler to get boiled peanuts (some proudly call them red-neck oysters) just by hopping in your car and driving until you see some little kid by the roadside selling them for a quarter a wax-paper bag. Of course you might need to drive a couple thousand miles to find this kid, but it is so worth it.
Much like maidrites, there is a mystique about boiled peanuts. You need green (just harvested) peanuts (preferably Virginia Creepers), still soft in the shell (i.e. not dried-out). For that reason you can get the real thing only in season, meaning when they first come out of the ground; and you can get them only locally, because the quick drying-out time (a few days) discourages shipping..
Lest anyone start rolling on the floor and moaning in frustration, note that it is possible to boil dried-out peanuts but it takes about a day's worth of extra soaking (in brine), and still it's just not the same - kind of like inauthentic maidrites, I imagine. The cooking process itself involves soaking overnight in a solution of salt and water about like what you'd find just off, say, Cape Hatteras; then pouring all that used-up brine out and simmering for about eight hours in a fresh 12-quart pot of the same solution.
It's good practice to sample the peanuts every so often during the cooking process and adjusting the amount of salt to taste, though be aware that this is habit-forming, and inevitably leads to finishing with half the number of peanuts you started out with.
For all these reasons, it's a lot simpler to get boiled peanuts (some proudly call them red-neck oysters) just by hopping in your car and driving until you see some little kid by the roadside selling them for a quarter a wax-paper bag. Of course you might need to drive a couple thousand miles to find this kid, but it is so worth it.
