2020-04-28: Roasted Peanuts

Roasting Peanuts in the Wok

Today was a nice afternoon without much wind. I used the time to make a few dishes with my wok outdoors. This post is about roasting peanuts, which are intended to eat as a snack, but also being used as an ingredient for some future Chinese dishes.

 Frying or roasting peanuts in oil is simple: I poured about 6oz of raw peanuts with their skin into oil that was heated in a wok to a temperature between 200F and 250F (about 95C to 120C). Then I roasted the peanuts in the oil for about 20 minutes or so. Toward the end I tasted a peanut and was not entirely happy, so I increased the heat of the oil to about 135C and continued to fry the peanuts for another 5 minutes. I took them out of the wok with a strainer device and soaked off the remaining clinging oil with some paper towels. It is important not to overheat the oil. The peanuts can burn easily and then taste no good. These days I use a cheap infra-red based device to measure the temperature of the oil in the wok.

 The peanuts can be eaten salted as a snack or kept in a container to be used as an ingredient for some (Chinese) dishes.

 There are other ways to roast/fry raw peanuts: One way that I have used during the winter or when I am in hurry is to put the peanuts into a microwave (just as they are). After a minute or two in the microwave the peanuts are ready (best to make a taste test). Another way is to gently heat them in the oven. Both methods have the advantage that no oil is used, if that is a concern. But frying them in a wok in oil is a very satisfying affair.

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