Roasted Watermelon Seeds

[Pam R]

Somebody brought me a bag of roasted watermelon seeds from Israel this week. I'm sitting here cracking through the hard skins with my teeth and eating the hard 'flesh', which to me tastes like a cross between a sunflower and pumpkin seed.

I don't think that I'd go out of my way to find these again. It seems like a lot of hard work to get through the shell for a very limited pay-off.

My cousin (in Beijing) told me that they seem to be popular in China.. and obviously they have them in Israel - but I've never seen them here before.

Is there anybody out there who loves them? Hates them?

[fou de Bassan]

I love them! In fact, during my second pregnancy I had a small obsession with them. They are kind of difficult to eat but it was the saltiness that won me over.

I think they were called bizer Irani (don't know the spelling) and I haven't been able to find them for a few years. I'd love to though.

[goldie]

I purchased a bag from an Asian market this summer. I really enjoyed them. There were several different flavors. The bag I bought was licorace which was more like Dutch licorace rather than American- salty and not sweet. My seven year old loved them, too.

[Rebecca263]

Biz'eh! Big with Syrian Jews, too. But I only remember salted ones. Licorice sounds better to me.

[wattacetti]

Pam,

There are the watermelon seed equivalent of a nutcracker packaged within some of the Asian brands for those who are challenged in their ability to get at the seed. They work pretty well but one has to be careful or else the top half flies everywhere.

They're great snacks though and I think people are more hooked on the flavoring on the shell rather than on the seed itself.

[Yuki]

Watermelon seeds are an essential part of Chinese new year. There are many different types of watermelon seeds and you can find specialty stores in HK that sell them. Watermelon seeds are soaked or stir fried with flavoring. Some popular flavors are five spice, cream, soya sauce, and licorice. I prefer the regular or five spice black watermelon seeds and don't like any of the red seeds. You can find creative flavor like green tea, and sour preserved plum.

Edited December 1, 2005 by Yuki (log)

[mochihead]

Watermelon seeds were something we used to snack on everytime we visited our grandparents in Honolulu. My dad told us that the watermelon seeds were all the seeds spat out by the old Chinese men when they were done eating the watermelon.

(Not to offend anyone. I'm part Chinese, myself.)

[helenjp]

I've heard that people in areas of China where watermelon seeds are *really* popular eventually develop a little notch in one of their top teeth, very handy for cracking the seeds open. Perhaps you could have your dentist speed things up a little for you?

[Pam R]

Perhaps you could have your dentist speed things up a little for you? 

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I think I'll pass.

My bag is salted - no other flavouring. But I notice a slight... tang? when they're cracked open.

So, assuming I can buy a watermelon that still has seeds... would I roast them like I would a pumpkin seed? Can you imagine all the seeds I've thrown out over the years!

Edited December 1, 2005 by Pam R (log)

[Swisskaese]

I must be living under a rock. I live in Israel and I have never seen them or eaten them. I guess I will have to go look for them at the shuk.

[miladyinsanity]

I love them!

Chinese New Year without them? Nevah!

[chappie]

When eating watermelon, I never spit the seeds out but just crunch them up, shell and all, with the flesh. Is it necessary to spit out the husk of the roasted seeds? Would eating it whole, like a pumpkin seed, cause any sort of internal damage or would it just add some good old fiber to the diet?

[Pam R]

and are they supposed to have the slightly sour flavour I'm tasting?

[miladyinsanity]

Are you talking about the nut inside, Pam R?

It does have a slightly sour twang sometimes.

[Pam R]

Are you talking about the nut inside, Pam R?

It does have a slightly sour twang sometimes.

←

Yep - thanks. Wanted to make sure I wasn't poisoning myself.

[miladyinsanity]

No problem.

[Hest88]

I know they're unpopular because they're so hard to eat, but the red ones are really my favorite. I just like the clean taste of them, and a couple of decades practice has made me pretty good at cracking them. I notice, though, that in the Ranch 99s around here you can't get them unless it's around New Year, so I must be one of the few who favors them.

[PPPans]

I love them! They're sold in stores all year-round. Some shells are easier to crack than others. Someone told us before, there are certain types of watermelon which are grown especially for the seeds.