Get 'em Hot

In the South, along almost every road and byway you will see humble stands or shacks proclaiming to have Hot Boiled Peanuts. The spellings vary widely and nothing adheres to conventional laws such as building or food handling codes. Business is cash only and receipts rare but everyone walks away happy.

Pronounced somewhere between Bowled and Bold, these luscious legumes are a integral taste of the south from the Carolinas to Florida to Louisiana. More of an outside or picnic delicacy, the best method of consumption is to give the end a small bite to split the seam and slurp any juice out, crack the rest of the shell off and gobble the soft nuts. Sometimes the nuts stay together and sometimes they split with the shell but as long as you don’t drop them, they both taste good.

Living in Indiana, I have been missing these for some time until I finally decided to give it a try. Recipe wise it cannot get any easier. You need a large pot, water, peanuts and salt. Peanuts are properly boiled in brine which means a pretty good bit of salt. I would also suggest some kind of non-iodized salt given the amount used. I didn’t measure how much salt I used but if I had to guess, it was probably about 3/4 cup of salt to a gallon of water. Nothing scientific about it, just make it salty. The peanuts I got were called ‘Raw’ which is a slight variation from how this is normally done. Generally, the peanut vendors buy them in what is called ‘green’ state. Unlike other vegetables, ‘green’ peanuts are already ripe but remain somewhat unwashed (these are in the ground remember) and retain some of the root tendrils. For them, the process starts with washing the nuts and picking out the roots and chaff. For me, that had already been done but the snag was that they were dryer than I had anticipated. Given the choice, I probably would have opted for ‘green’ for authenticity but my choices here in the North are limited. I had the perfect pot though; I had decided to use my turkey fryer setup which turned out to be a champion idea. Turn the gas on, light it and set it to boil. As dry as the nuts where, they floated at first so I took a straining basket that fit the pot and weighted it with a relatively clean rock to press them into the water. I don’t know if this really helped but it made me feel better. Fast forward 5 – 6 hours and they seemed to be about right. They were still kind of al-dente but it worked for us on a first attempt.

The smell and taste is a flood of memories of football games, days at the springs and road trips to the stereo sound of slurping. Boiled peanuts can be enjoyed alone but are much better with company. I had also cooked some cabbage which goes nicely with it and invited some people over. For the full on Floridian treatment, I should have had swamp cabbage (heart of palm prepared like regular cabbage) but it was still a great time.

I think next time I’ll soak the peanuts overnight like dried beans and then add the salt and boil. I imagine it will take less boil time. I might get ambitious and add some spices like garlic or some chili peppers but that isn’t for everyone. Caution, consumption of boiled peanuts may result in speaking in a southern drawl and a desire to sit for a spell on the front porch watching the trucks go by.