[All photos for GL by JP Pagán]
Earlier this week, we had a post about the foul smelling ginkgo tree droppings in Cobble Hill. Today, corresspondent JP Pagán explains a unique experience last night:
So, for the last few weeks my wife and I have been noticing mostly elderly Asians gathering up what appear to be little fruits from a certain type of tree in the neighborhood. The leaves look like ginkgo leaves, but not knowing much about plants I couldn’t be sure. Well, last night I passed a young lady and an older man on the corner of Hoyt and 3rd St, gathering more of this stuff up off the sidewalk. There was a more than faint smell in the air of what I took to be feces. I figured I’d stepped in dog poo, but decided to take the time to finally find out what they were gathering.
The young lady couldn’t tell me what it was they were picking up, except in Chinese: it sounded like “pok-kor.” As I watched, the older man was throwing his hat and even his jacket into the tree to try to knock down more of the fruits. The young lady let me take some pictures of what they were harvesting off the tree, which turned out to be seeds, and offered me, with a warning, a whiff. Suffice it to say I had not stepped in dog poo. She said her mother makes soup out of the stuff, and you can buy the seeds in Chinatown, but that she’d stopped off on her way home from work to get these for her because last night’s rains had knocked many of them out of the tree. They’d picked up as many seeds as they could and weren’t able to get any more of them out of the tree, so they moved on and I went home.
Lucky me, it didn’t take long to figure out what the seeds were. A couple seconds of Googling and I had my answer: ginkgo nuts! Apparently, they’re a delicacy in China, often used to make a soup for desserts and special occasions, like the New Year. Here’s a few recipes. If you’re feeling brave, track down one of these trees (bring surgical gloves ’cause otherwise the funk sticks to your hands) and get cookin’. mànmàn chī! Check it out here, here and here.
—JP Pagán
(Click photos to enlarge)
8 responses so far ↓
1 randy // Nov 7, 2008 at 9:47 am
I was in a yakatori place in Tokyo and they sell these grilled on skewers — delicious.
On a tour there, the guide pointed at the Ginko trees on the street and said, “we only plant male ginkos on the street in Japan, and female ones in the garden because of the smell.”
Wish Brooklyn were that smart.
2 toby // Nov 7, 2008 at 12:16 pm
C’mon, when will people finally admit that they love the way their shit smells. Get over your fake puritanical morals and let’s revel in that wonderful gaseous odor that we all exude.
3 dobin // Nov 7, 2008 at 12:17 pm
“Wish Brooklyn were that smart.”
Wish grammar better here
4 Chris // Nov 7, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I think the grammar is correct there, akshually.
5 tammy // Nov 7, 2008 at 2:15 pm
There was a great article in Edible Manhattan last month about how to eat ginkgo nuts… peel the fruit, put the nuts in the oven to roast, and when they are done, crack them open to reveal the tiny edible treasure within. Sans the Stench! If you have an old copy laying around I’d check it out. Quite interesting.
6 Big J // Nov 7, 2008 at 2:51 pm
NYC realized some time back and now purchases only male ginko trees for use as street trees. Who’s smart now, Yonkers?
7 Anonymous // Nov 7, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Just a warning! Those ginkgo nut contain a small amount of toxin so don’t eat a lot.
8 Joseph // Nov 9, 2008 at 12:19 am
I’m so glad I saw this post! The setup: I live on Bond and 3rd and for the past month the fire hydrant on the corner has been open, spouting water due to some kind of pressure problem. Anyway, I’ve seen over the last few days two asian women washing what I now know are ginkgo nuts in the water from that fire hydrant!
I thought it was so strange! I asked them what the nuts were but our mutual language resources were limited. They did tell me the name but I couldn’t figure out what it was.
Thanks for so easily solving my mystery!
Blogs about Brooklyn = Amazing