Japanese Kuri Gohan and Autumn Grain Medleys: Chestnuts, Sweet Rice, and the Harvest Season Table

Ingredients

• 360 ml (2 rice-cooker cups) Japanese short-grain rice, washed until water runs clear
• 180 ml (1 rice-cooker cup) fresh Japanese chestnuts (kuri, Castanea crenata), outer shell and inner shibukawa removed, soaked 15 minutes in cold water
• For the cooking liquid
• 360 ml dashi, light; cooled to room temperature
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp shoyu, a few drops only; the rice should remain pale gold
• To finish
• 1 tsp black sesame seeds (kuro goma), to garnish

Method

1. 1
   Score a shallow X through the flat side of each chestnut shell. Blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes, then transfer immediately to ice water. While still warm, peel away the outer shell (ogawa) and rub off the thin inner skin (shibukawa). Any retained shibukawa will transfer bitterness to the entire pot during cooking. Place the peeled chestnuts in cold water and soak for 15 minutes; drain. The chestnuts are ready when no trace of dark inner skin remains.
2. 2
   Wash the rice in several changes of cold water, working gently with the fingers, until the water is clear rather than cloudy. Drain and transfer to the rice cooker bowl or donabe. This is where the dish lives or dies: combine the dashi, sake, salt, and the measured few drops of shoyu — the liquid must be seasoned before cooking, not after, so that a single unified flavour penetrates both rice and chestnut throughout. Taste the cooking liquid; it should be lightly savoury, barely coloured. Pour it over the rice to the correct fill line. Lay the drained chestnuts across the surface of the rice in a single layer without pressing them in.
3. 3
   Cook on the standard rice setting (rice cooker) or bring the donabe to a gentle boil over medium heat, reduce to the lowest possible simmer, cover tightly, and cook for approximately 15 minutes, then turn off the heat. In either method, allow a full resting period — lid on, undisturbed — for the steam to finish the rice and integrate the chestnut starch into the grains. The pot is ready when the faint, sweet, starchy fragrance of cooked chestnut is perceptible through the lid.
4. 4
   Open the pot. Using a flat rice paddle, cut vertically down through the rice in a grid pattern, then fold each section upward and over — never stir in a circular motion. The chestnuts should emerge whole and intact, golden-brown against the ivory rice. Any chestnut that has broken down indicates over-pre-cooking or rough handling. Divide the rice into bowls, ensuring each portion receives whole chestnuts, and finish with a pinch of black sesame. The canonical autumn colour palette — ivory rice, golden-brown chestnut, black sesame — confirms the dish is complete.