Be sure to prepare for this ahead of time, as you have to move quickly.

Start a teakettle of water to boil, and also bring the three cups of water to a boil in a pan separately. At the same time, start heating a heavy skillet in which you’ve put the oil, to about 350 degrees (medium hot).

When the pan of water boils, add walnuts and boil one minute. Drain in a colander and immediately pour the teakettle of boiling water over them to rinse.

Put walnuts back into the now empty pan and dump the sugar into it, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and the walnuts are well coated with it.

Pour the walnuts into the frying pan (in which you’ve already heated the oil) and stir fry for about five minutes, or until the walnuts become lightly browned. Remove and drain on brown paper for a minute, then sprinkle with salt and toss gently.

Store in an airtight container. (As if. In my household if I don’t wrap it immediately, there isn’t any left to wrap within … about 10 minutes.)