Boiled Green Peanuts / Boiled Peanuts
Boiled peanuts (or boiled green peanuts) is a snack that is eaten in the Southern United States and in the Caribbean. In the Antilles we call this dish 'peanut hérebé', which is Papiamentu for boiled peanuts. Peanuts are also eaten in this way in Africa and China.
Roasted or boiled peanuts
It takes some getting used to for the Dutch, as we are only used to roasted peanuts here. Roasted peanuts taste like nuts, even though they aren't actually. Nice and crispy and with some salt or spices. So boiled peanuts are a whole new experience. When peanuts are cooked, they become soft and salty – a bit like an olive. Do you like olives? Then this is a recipe for you!
Incidentally, the 'green' in the name does not refer to the color of the peanuts, because they are never green… the Americans call them 'green' to indicate that they are raw peanuts. Peanuts that come straight out of the ground and therefore have not yet been roasted or baked. And that immediately brings me to the next point:
Watch out for raw peanuts!
Many of you have known this for a long time, of course, but… raw peanuts can be toxic! This is because when peanuts contract an (invisible) mold – Aspergillus flavus – it produces a toxin called aflatoxin. This is a nasty mold toxin that you are naturally better off not ingesting.
For that reason you will hardly find them in 'normal' shops or on the market. It can therefore be quite a quest to get raw shelled peanuts to make these boiled green peanuts. You have the best luck at the large Chinese supermarkets (Amazing Oriental or Wah Nam Hong) or at a Surinamese store.
The nicest? The raw peanuts do not weigh that much and become heavier especially during cooking. With 500 grams you really already have a whole pan full!
Ingredients:
- 500 gr raw capped peanuts
- 2 tablespoons of salt
- 1 liters of water
- *optional: spices/spices to give the peanuts extra flavour. For example, you can add (smoked) paprika powder, or some 'complete seasoning' from Badia. Chili flakes are also tasty. So just what you love!
Preparation boiled green peanuts
First wash the unpeeled peanuts in cold water.
Tip: to shorten the cooking time, you can also soak raw peanuts in cold water overnight!
Then put the peanuts, water and salt in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Do you want to add spices or spices? Put it in the water now. Let the boiled green peanuts cook gently in this way with the lid on the pan.
Pay close attention to the water level while cooking; if the peanuts threaten to boil dry, you can always add a little more water.
Let the peanuts cook for a few hours. The cooking time depends very much on the freshness of the peanuts: with fresh peanuts (peanuts that have just come out of the ground) two hours are sufficient, while with older/larger peanuts you sometimes need 3 to 4 hours. It is of course always possible to use a pressure cooker. With this you are ready in just over an hour!
You can taste a peanut every now and then during cooking (but always after 2 hours) to see if it already has the desired softness. This is also subjective, by the way – some people like very soft peanuts, while other people prefer the boiled green peanuts as firm as an olive. Just like cooking pasta 'al dente' or completely cooked: a personal choice.
When the peanuts have boiled long enough, you can drain the water and let the peanuts cool down. Then eat the boiled green peanuts as a snack. Not too much at once, of course, because there is quite a bit of salt in it. - Enjoy your dinner!
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