I had no idea water chestnuts look so evil before they get processed

"This little curiosity is off-putting to most diners, for obvious reasons. It bears all the hallmarks of being hell-spawned, for one thing, and it looks like it could hatch into something that would attach itself to your throat and eat through your soft palate into your brain and cause you to slaughter your loved ones. The community just hasn't been desperate enough to risk demon possession, instant agonizing poisoning death, or perhaps just tasting something that combines the flavors of tar, cockroach chitin, and venom. They call them "bat nuts" or "devil pods," and avoid them, literally, like the plague.

But Gak dared me to try one, and it was one of the most startling culinary experiences of my life! Light and savory, a bit nutty. Refreshing! If I don't die, zombify, or undergo a catastrophic transformation from eating it, I might try it candied!"No fucking shit. Oh there's a rally down at the state capital? Great, when! Fucking Tuesday, you say? In the middle of the fucking day? Mkay, so let me just call off work and hope I don't get fired for that shit, and then drive in circles for a goddamned hour and a half so I can pay 30 dirty fucking dollars to park. Sounds great. Yeah, yeah I'll see you there I'm sure.

I remember that dude, and it was also the first thing that popped into my mind when setting OP's image. IIRC, there were ninjas with katanas bouncing around at that miniboss as well.I remember playing a shitload of Streets of Rage 2 and cannot recall OP's reference. Is it from the first one?This isn't a water chestnut. The ones most people eat in Chinese food are Eleocharis dulcis, which is a type of sedge and a monocot, not a eudicot of the rose family like the OP, which is a water caltrop. Completely different plants, not even remotely related.

It's typically a once a year thing, sold during Chinese moon festival during mooncake season. If you eat the ones that are imported, they kinda taste chalky. If you are in China eating them fresh, they're really good.All these years I misinterpreted the lyrics 'chestnuts roasting on an open fire' as if the chestnuts themselves were being roasted. They may in fact have been doing the roasting the whole time. Huh would you look at that.I have been carrying one of those around since I was 8 and found it in my friend's back yard. I had no idea what it was and held onto it in case I may one day find out. Thank you kind stranger for informing me!