Kuri Kinton (栗きんとん, Nakatsugawa)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Sarashi cotton cloth or clean thin tea towel for chakin-shibori
• •Suribachi and pestle, or a potato masher
• •Coarse sieve (ura-goshi) for a finer paste
• •Kitchen scale

Instructions

1. 1

   Sort and soak

   Set the chestnuts in a bowl of cool water for 20 minutes, then push them under with your hand. Any that float back up are usually dry or insect-damaged, and this sweet gives them no place to hide. The soak softens the shell a little too, which makes scoring cleaner and safer.

2. 2

   Score the shells

   Drain and dry the chestnuts. With a small sturdy knife, cut a shallow cross through the rounded side of each shell, cutting the shell but not deeply into the flesh. Every chestnut must be scored. The cut gives expanding pressure a way out in the oven, and later it gives your fingers a place to begin peeling.

3. 3

   Roast the chestnuts

   Heat the oven to 200C/400F. Set the chestnuts scored-side up on a baking sheet and roast for 25-30 minutes, until the cuts curl open and the kitchen smells sweet and nutty. Don't chase dark color. Too much browning dries the flesh, and dry chestnut makes a chalky paste.

4. 4

   Peel while warm

   Tip the hot chestnuts into a clean towel and fold it closed to hold their warmth. Peel one at a time, removing both the hard shell and the papery inner skin. Warmth loosens that inner skin; once the nut cools, it grips like a stubborn clerk with a stamp. Keep the rest covered while you work.

   Brown flecks of inner skin taste bitter in a sweet this plain. If a bit clings, scrape it away with the edge of a spoon while the chestnut is still warm.
5. 5

   Mash and weigh

   Weigh the peeled chestnut flesh. Measure sugar at 15-20% of that weight, using less for naturally sweet Japanese chestnuts and more for drier imported ones. Mash the chestnuts in a suribachi or bowl until the pieces are small and even. For a finer Nakatsugawa-style texture, press the mash through a coarse sieve, but don't turn it into a paste without character. Tiny grains are part of the chestnut's voice.

6. 6

   Warm with sugar

   Put the chestnut mash and sugar in a small heavy pan over low heat. Stir and fold for 4-6 minutes, until the sugar disappears and the mash gathers into a soft mass. At first the mixture will loosen as the sugar draws out moisture, then it will come together again. Stop before the color darkens. You're not making candy syrup; you're binding chestnut to chestnut.

   Pinch a little paste between your fingers. It should hold its shape without feeling wet. If it crumbles, cover the pan off the heat for five minutes, then fold again so the sugar can pull the chestnut's own moisture through the paste.
7. 7

   Shape in cloth

   Dampen a square of sarashi, the thin cotton cloth used for this shaping, or use a clean thin tea towel. Wring it nearly dry. Put 25-30g of paste in the center, gather the cloth around it, twist firmly at the top, and press the bottom flat with your fingers. Untwist and lift the sweet out gently. The damp cloth prevents sticking, and the twist makes the ridges and peak without heavy handling.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Set the shaped kuri kinton on kaishi paper or a small plate and cover lightly until serving. Serve at room temperature, not cold from the refrigerator. The texture should be tender and faintly sandy, with a clean chestnut fragrance and just enough sweetness to carry it.

Chef Tips

• •Buy chestnuts when they are truly at shun, usually early to mid-autumn. They should feel heavy for their size, with glossy unbroken shells and no pinholes. A tired chestnut gives you a tired sweet, and there is nothing here to cover for it.
• •The sugar is a percentage, not a command from a stone tablet. Start at 15% of the peeled chestnut weight, then taste. Nakatsugawa kuri kinton should taste first of chestnut, with sugar only holding the door open.
• •Don't confuse this with osechi kuri kinton, the New Year's dish of sweet potato paste and candied chestnuts. That dish has its own place. This one is smaller, autumnal, and stricter: chestnut and sugar.
• •Use sarashi or a thin cotton cloth for chakin-shibori. A thick terry towel leaves coarse marks, and plastic wrap makes a smooth lump with no cloth ridges. The tool is simple, but it has a job.

Advance Preparation

• •The chestnuts can be roasted and peeled one day ahead. Keep the peeled flesh tightly covered in the refrigerator, then let it return to room temperature before mashing so it works evenly.
• •Finished kuri kinton are best the day they are shaped, but they keep two days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Bring them back to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
• •Do not leave the shaped sweets uncovered. Chestnut paste dries quickly, and a dry surface cracks instead of holding the quiet chakin shape.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 38g)