Gingko Nuts

[Suvir Saran]

What do you use Gingko nuts for?

Do you ever see people picking them up from the street?

What do you know about these?

Recipes for dishes??

Medicinal uses?

[violist]

>What do you use Gingko nuts for?

Mostly as you would use any other kind of nut, as an

accent in things like Buddha's Delight; a few nights ago

they appeared in a stuffed quail that my gf had at Cheong

Liew's place; you can also eat them as a snack.

>Do you ever see people picking them up from the street?

No. When I was growing up there was a street that had

the trees, and it is said that people would pick them; I

don't recall that - all I remember is the hideous smell of

the street at fruiting time.

>Medicinal uses?

Supposed to be good for bladder things; I wouldn't

guarantee that, though.

[Suvir Saran]

>Medicinal uses?

Supposed to be good for bladder things; I wouldn't

guarantee that, though.

[torakris]

I love ginko nuts, called ginnan in Japanese.

These are very popular in Japan and are always found at the bottom of chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) they are also often found in braises and stirfries.My favorite way of eating them is roasted in the shells in a fry pan and then eaten while still hot.

[foodgeek]

Years back when i had an office job for the nyc parks dept the Parkies used to complain about people picking ginko nuts in a particular park (don't remember which). The parkies said something about people picking the nuts...leaving behind a stinky mess (of discarded material) that people step in. Plus...the parkies wanted to propegate them...which was tough if all the nuts were taken.

[Shiva]

They're rarely seen on the street in North America, as only male Ginko clones are cultivated for landscape use these days.

As Jayask noted, the females are very messy

[Jinmyo]

Since trees along streets are planted generally at the same time, they tend to come to maturity all at the same time. Twenty-two or so years after planting gingko trees there would arise such a stink as to cause people to consider selling their homes.

[Robert Schonfeld]

We have numerous females as street trees in our neighborhood. There is competition for the nuts. We collect them when our supply runs low. (They can be frozen.) They stink.

Hulled, washed and dried, skewered, grilled or sauteed with soy sauce. Bitter, but delicious.

New York City also has a significant number of large, mature gingko trees that are spectacular specimens in their appearance.

[Jinmyo]

The gingko tree is one of the very remaining "pre-historic" trees. Fascinating leaf structure, rightly appearing ubiqitously in Japanese kitsch.

[Sandra Levine]

There is a female gingko tree outside my office. A few weeks ago, an elderly Chinese couple spent an hour or so harvesting the nuts.