Chestnut Rice

By John_Merillat

Chestnut Rice (kuri gohan)

Such a play of delicate flavors. You have to try it. Chestnuts are a perfect expression of the season right now; steaming them with rice, Japanese-style, brings out their natural sweetness in a much more subtle and , to me, more satisfying way than caramelizing by roasting.

Also, the recipe calls for a mixture of Japanese short grain rice and sticky (glutinous or sweet) rice, which creates a delightful texture and infuses even more of the natural sweetness. Finally, the sake and the salt here nicely pop all these tastes. The complexity of flavor you find in this simple dish is just amazing.

Ingredients

• 12 chestnuts
• 2 1/2 cups Japanese short grain rice
• 1/2 cup sticky rice (mochi gohan)
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sake

Preparation

Step 1

Pel the chestnuts and soak in a bowl of water.

Mix the rice and wash. I like to wash the rice in a colander inside a mixing bowl. Add water, swirl the rice, dump the cloudy water. Repeat until the water becomes clear, about 3-4 washings. Place the washed rice in a rice cooker.

Drain the chestnuts and sprinkle over the uncooked rice in the rice cooker. Do not mix at this point. you want moisture to penetrate the rice grains evenly, and thereby cook evenly; mixing in the chestnuts will prevent that from happening. This, by the way, goes for any kind of Japanese mixed rice recipe.

Add the water, salt and sake. Don't worry if the salt and sake aren't evenly dispersed, you'll be mixing once it's cooked.

Close the rice cooker, turn it on.

When it's done, fluff up and mix the rice. Here's how:
FIrst, wet a rice spatula. Now slice through the rice with the spatula, positioning it like a knife blade. Finally, go around the sides and fold over the rice.