Mao Li Water Chestnuts

Mao Li Water Chestnuts

　　Grown in Mao Li Town, Shayang County, these water chestnuts are commonly known as "horse hooves" or "ground chestnuts" due to their resemblance to horse hooves and chestnuts. With a dark purple-black skin and snow-white flesh, they are sweet, juicy, crisp, and delicious. Since ancient times, they have been praised as the "underground pears of China," and people in northern China regard them as the "ginseng of the south." Water chestnuts can be eaten as a fruit or a vegetable, making them a popular seasonal food.

Water chestnuts contain the highest level of phosphorus among root and stem vegetables, which helps promote human growth and development, maintain physiological functions, boost metabolism, and prevent acute infectious diseases such as measles and epidemic meningitis. They also have effects such as clearing heat and reducing fire, cooling blood and detoxifying, promoting urination and bowel movements, resolving dampness and phlegm, and aiding digestion and reducing bloating.

Mao Li water chestnuts are beloved by both urban and rural residents for their large size, crisp texture, sweet taste, thin skin, and high moisture content. Their specially made candied water chestnuts are sold in Hunan, Wuhan, Jingzhou, and even the U.S. market.