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When's the last time you thought about reaching for water chestnuts?
I’d forgotten about that old (water) chestnut until the food team at Southern Living started going back through our archives. I remember the crunchy ingredient being a staple of frozen stir-fry veggie mixes growing up. They were my favorite part of the vegetable medley–ultra crunchy, slightly sweet, but not super flavorful (i.e. they didn’t taste much like a vegetable to a kid).
It should've come as no surprise to me that water chestnuts would pop up in Southern Living retro recipes. The ingredient became popular during the mid-20th century, when both convenience foods (they were most commonly sold canned) and global ingredients started to become a bigger part of American home cooking.
I still wasn’t expecting to find a water chestnut dip while sifting through old issues. On first glance, the dip looks like any other sour cream-based spread. There’s of course some mayonnaise folded in, alongside chopped onion, fresh parsley, a dash of soy sauce, and then 2 cans of the namesake ingredient.
The water chestnuts earn their name in the title. It’s their signature crunch that makes this dip special. They don’t add much in the way of flavor, but that crunch helps break up the thick, rich dip adding much needed texture the same way celery might in a tuna salad.
This gem of a recipe comes from our April 1980 issue, courtesy of reader Ron Barker of Mesquite, Texas. It’s a great example of effortless 80s entertaining at its best. Simply stir everything together and break out the Fiestaware.
Want to try the recipe yourself? You’ll have to join our new Southern Living Insiders program. Members get access to this recipe plus hundreds (and eventually thousands) more from our archives dating back to our first issue in 1966.
Inside our recipe vault, you’ll find dips, dinners, desserts, and more from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, before we started sharing our Test Kitchen-developed recipes with the internet. And like me, you’ll be able to stumble upon new favorites and forgotten ingredients that deserve a comeback.
Read the original article on Southern Living
