Chestnut season

[chibirisu]

Had a bunch of roasted chestnuts last night - yum! Planning to roast more to make kuri-kinton later. Or throw some in the rice cooker. Or maybe in with the daigaku-imo on the menu tonight, just for fun.

Anyone else have favorite chestnut recipes? (Been meaning to figure out kuri-manjuu for a while, never got around to it...)

[sanrensho]

Coincidentally, I made a chestnut puree for the first time 2 days ago. Despite the work involved, we had a lot of fun with my 4- and 7-year old daughters pitching in to help peel the boiled chestnuts.

The chestnut puree ended up mixed with Chantilly cream and rolled in a almond biscuit roulade for a simplified version of a mont blanc. It was great.

[chibirisu]

Ooooo yum! Would you happen to have proportions/ingredients kicking around?

Coincidentally, I made a chestnut puree for the first time 2 days ago. Despite the work involved, we had a lot of fun with my 4- and 7-year old daughters pitching in to help peel the boiled chestnuts.

The chestnut puree ended up mixed with Chantilly cream and rolled in a almond biscuit roulade for a simplified version of a mont blanc. It was great.

←

[sanrensho]

Ooooo yum! Would you happen to have proportions/ingredients kicking around?

This was a first-time experiment so I sort of winged it. I don't really have the proportions as I just went by taste. Method is below:

1. Cut notches in chestnuts (350 grams), place in cold water. Bring water to boil and boil for a few minutes.

2. Drain, then peel and skin chestnuts (I just trimmed with a knife). Place skinned chestnuts in pan with milk to cover and a few tbs sugar. Simmer until tender (about an hour).

3. Puree drained chestnuts in food processor with enough of the milk to form a paste. I didn't puree very finely and was pretty happy with the chunky texture after folding into the Chantilly cream.

4. Fold puree into sweetened Chantilly cream, to taste. I would make the Chantilly cream with 1.5-2 times the normal amount of sugar, depending on how sweet the puree is. My puree wasn't very sweet at all so I added a fair amount of sugar to the Chantilly cream.

5. Fill in your favorite roll cake (or cake layers).

[torakris]

Had a bunch of roasted chestnuts last night - yum! Planning to roast more to make kuri-kinton later. Or throw some in the rice cooker. Or maybe in with the daigaku-imo on the menu tonight, just for fun.

Anyone else have favorite chestnut recipes? (Been meaning to figure out kuri-manjuu for a while, never got around to it...)

←

I only do 3 things with chestnuts and you listed them all in your first two sentences..

Until I can find a fast way to prepare them, I won't be doing much with them. Even for the kuri gohan I use the already prepared ones....

[ludja]

Are most Japanese chestnut recipes savory rather than sweet?

[SuzySushi]

Are most Japanese chestnut recipes savory rather than sweet?

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The Japanese use chestnuts in both savory and sweet dishes. They're commonly sold already peeled, cooked, and candied in syrup (in jars); and hot/roasted, ready for peeling (in small paper bags, with an X cut in each chestnut and even a handy plastic guitar-pick-type implement for peeling them!). You can also buy vacuum-packed foil bags of roasted, peeled chestnuts from China that are ready for snacking or recipes. In Asian markets here, the latter cost about $1 for an 8 (?) ounce bag!

Typical Japanese recipes include:

kuri gohan -- chestnut-studded hot cooked rice

kuri manju -- baked sweet buns with chestnut filling

kuri kinton -- a sweet made from mashed sweet potatoes and chestnuts

kuri yokan -- logs of sweetened red bean paste "fudge" studded with whole or broken chestnuts

and various Western-style fancy pastries that use candied chestnuts as filling or garnish.

The Chinese, BTW, sell dried chestnuts, which need to be soaked overnight to reconstitute, then cooked to soften. They're most often used as a potato-like starch in stews and braised dishes.

[chibirisu]

I only do 3 things with chestnuts and you listed them all in your first two sentences..

Until I can find a fast way to prepare them, I won't be doing much with them. Even for the kuri gohan I use the already prepared ones....

←

Yeah, that's one of my drawbacks with the things too. I don't mind popping a dozen in to bake alongside the satsuma-imo and peeling 'em in front of TV for a recipe or two, but when it gets to the number of chestnuts I'd need for ingredients for a party with friends, I either cheat and let 'em peel 'em themselves and call it entertainment () or I go after the pre-peeled bags.

Wish I could figure out how they get 'em pre-peeled and still whole like that - I'm terrible at trying to get 'em out in one piece...

anybody got recommendations there?

[chibirisu]

Ooooo yum! Would you happen to have proportions/ingredients kicking around?

This was a first-time experiment so I sort of winged it. I don't really have the proportions as I just went by taste.

←

That sounds really tasty! (adds to list of stuff to try)

Your recipe got me hunting up mont blanc recipes, because I didn't know what it was, and here's some of the best English-language Japanese-mont-blanc-related links I've found so far, for anybody else who's curious:

http://www.nordljus.co.uk/en/index.php?showimage=49 - blog entry on the popularity of mont blanc in Japan; links to:

http://www.stratsplace.com/rogov/mont_blanc_aux_marrons.html - the recipe used by the most famous French store that does them in Japan (apparently they use James Beard's recipe in fact - small world!)

http://shewhoeats.blogspot.com/2004/10/whi...cal-island.html

includes a link to the Japanese recipe that the blogger used

[ludja]

Are most Japanese chestnut recipes savory rather than sweet?

←

The Japanese use chestnuts in both savory and sweet dishes. They're commonly sold already peeled, cooked, and candied in syrup (in jars); and hot/roasted, ready for peeling (in small paper bags, with an X cut in each chestnut and even a handy plastic guitar-pick-type implement for peeling them!). You can also buy vacuum-packed foil bags of roasted, peeled chestnuts from China that are ready for snacking or recipes. In Asian markets here, the latter cost about $1 for an 8 (?) ounce bag!

Typical Japanese recipes include:

kuri gohan -- chestnut-studded hot cooked rice

kuri manju -- baked sweet buns with chestnut filling

kuri kinton -- a sweet made from mashed sweet potatoes and chestnuts

kuri yokan -- logs of sweetened red bean paste "fudge" studded with whole or broken chestnuts

and various Western-style fancy pastries that use candied chestnuts as filling or garnish.

The Chinese, BTW, sell dried chestnuts, which need to be soaked overnight to reconstitute, then cooked to soften. They're most often used as a potato-like starch in stews and braised dishes.

←

Wow, thanks for the informative response, suzisushi! I love chestnuts and was introduced to them via a completely European perspective, mainly with desserts. Thank you for giving both the description and the Japanese name of the dishes. I wonder if I would have any luck finding these up in San Francisco which has a smallish Japantown. Must look for the kuri manju...

I guess then, that chestnuts are native to Japan or else are now grown there? (sorry, for what is probably a silly question...)

Edited October 22, 2005 by ludja (log)

[ludja]

Regarding Japanese uses of chestnuts, check out this quote from sobaaddict a few years ago:

I recall a recipe from the Time-Life Foods of the World book for Japan that went along something like these lines:

Take some turnips and cut them into small balls. Take some seasoned shrimp puree and coat each turnip ball. Roll shrimp-coated balls in noodles which have been broken into matchstick sized pieces. Deep fry the noodle balls until noodles and shrimp are golden brown. Using chopsticks, carefully cut open the noodle balls and gently take out the turnip, reserve for another use. Insert a glazed chestnut into each noodle nest, and serve. These should appear as a mimic of a chestnut in its wild state.

Soba

link

Has anyone ever seen these? What a baroque dish!

[Hiroyuki]

Here is another recipe for mont blanc:

http://www.tbs.co.jp/chubaw/en/rec20011103.html

I made a mont-blanc-like chestnut cake from the chestnut paste that I had made from these chestnuts:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...dpost&p=1003079

BTW, what gadget do you use to peel chestnuts?

I use this one: http://image.www.rakuten.co.jp/marusanpant...0261553405.jpeg

Kuri kuri bozu

Peeling chestnuts is really time-consuming even with this gadget, but it's much better than doing it with a knife, which can be dangerous at times.

[Kiem Hwa]

It must be fall..... even in the "Japanese" Bakeries in Hong Kong (I just got back), there were chestnut cakes!!!!

Rows of chestnut-flavored cakes! Also there were a few chestnut-flavored breads (pans) too

Not only were they beautiful, but in Hong Kong, I can actually afford the cakes! Unlike in Japan or the US.

These are the cakes I bought:

A green tea cake and the chestnut with chocolate crispy cake!!!

[AzianBrewer]

The Chestnut Napoleon is always a fast seller at my dinner party.

Puff Pastry

Mashed Chestnut

Brandy

Whipped Cream (optional)

Powder Sugar

Chopped Chestnut or Chopped Strawberries for garnishing.

Layer the puff pastry with mashed chestnut in between (I usually stacked 3 layers). Dust the top with powder sugar and garnish with chopped chestnut or strawberries.

[edwardsboi]

[

The Japanese use chestnuts in both savory and sweet dishes. They're commonly sold already peeled, cooked, and candied in syrup (in jars); and hot/roasted, ready for peeling (in small paper bags, with an X cut in each chestnut and even a handy plastic guitar-pick-type implement for peeling them!). You can also buy vacuum-packed foil bags of roasted, peeled chestnuts from China that are ready for snacking or recipes. In Asian markets here, the latter cost about $1 for an 8 (?) ounce bag!

Is there any difference between Italian chestnuts and the chestnuts sold in a local Korean market, other than price?

With the Italian chestnuts, I see them being sold for $4, but the Koreans sell their chestnuts for only $1.50.