菱角 (língjiao) · water caltrop, water chestnut (Trapa)

Measure Word

一颗菱角 kē

Meanings

1 water caltrop
2 water chestnut (Trapa)

About the ingredient

蔬菜 Vegetables · In season: autumn

A horned, nut-like fruit with a hard shell. Young green or red ones are peeled and eaten raw for their crisp flesh; older ones turn dark and hard and are boiled, tasting like chestnut. Shelled ones are sold for soups.

Also called 菱

Characters

菱

líng

water caltrop; rhombus

角

jiao

horn; corner

Examples

HSK 6

煮熟的菱角又粉又甜。

Zhǔ shú de língjiao yòu fěn yòu tián.

Boiled water caltrops are starchy and sweet.

HSK 7-9

秋天江南水乡盛产菱角。

Qiūtiān Jiāngnán shuǐxiāng shèngchǎn língjiao.

In autumn, the water towns of Jiangnan produce lots of water caltrops.

Tips

culture

Black, horn-shaped seed pods of an aquatic plant grown in the lakes of Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang. Sold from baskets in autumn - boiled in salted water and peeled to eat. Don't confuse with 荸荠, the round 'water chestnut' used in Cantonese cooking.