Cooking on Orange Street: Chinese-Style Boiled Peanuts

I've been looking forward to doing this post for a while. Boiled peanuts are something we absolutely love to make in the summer, thanks to an accidental discovery in Chinatown last year.

It's not uncommon for street vendors to sell roasted peanuts, but fresh peanuts are different. Just take a close look -- fresh peanuts are moist-looking and often a little dirty, like they've just been dug up from the ground. Some are even a bit green. Most unexpectedly, fresh peanuts have a vegetal, legume-y smell, like peas or beans. It's startling, for something we usually see so hard and brown.

There are a lot of recipes out there for boiled peanuts, especially Southern-style (I've yet to try), but here is what we do:

Ingredients (all measurements approximate):

2 lbs fresh peanuts
2 oz salt
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
2 whole star anise

1. Wash the peanuts of dirt and drain.
2. Place peanuts in a large pot and fill with water until peanuts are almost completely covered.

3. Add seasonings and bring to a boil (below, the star anise).

4. After boiling for 2-3 hours, remove from heat and place in fridge overnight (about 8 hours).

5. Shell and enjoy!

The result is addictive -- the taste savory and meaty, the texture soft. You can actually use a very similar seasoning mix (with a little sesame oil and rice wine) to make Chinese-style braised beef or pork (my all-time favorite dish), or even "tea eggs" (a traditional Chinese snack made from hard-boiling eggs in a mix of tea, salt and anise).

Just for kicks, check out this little peanut -- looks like a man! A reminder that peanuts, when not sorted in a factory, are varied and idiosyncratic: