Japanese Kuri Gohan Chestnut Rice Autumn Ritual

Ingredients

• 400 g Japanese short-grain rice, medium-grain; rinsed until water runs clear
• 400 g fresh Japanese chestnuts (kuri), outer shell (onigawa) and inner skin (shibukawa) removed; soaked in cold water
• 600 ml dashi or water, light dashi preferred
• 2 tbsp sake
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp light soy sauce (usukuchi), restrained quantity; do not increase
• 1 piece kombu, small; optional — simmered in cooking liquid for umami depth
• To finish
• 1 tsp black sesame seeds or roasted sesame seeds, or goma shio (sesame salt)

Method

1. 1
   Score each chestnut lightly across the flat side. Submerge in boiling water for 5–10 minutes until the outer shell (onigawa) softens. Working one chestnut at a time and keeping the rest in the hot water, remove the outer shell with a paring knife, then peel away the inner skin (shibukawa) completely. Any trace of shibukawa left on the flesh will permeate the finished rice with bitterness. Transfer peeled chestnuts immediately to a bowl of cold water; hold there until all are peeled. The flesh should be cream-coloured and clean, with no grey or brown streaks of inner skin remaining.
2. 2
   Rinse the rice in several changes of cold water until the water runs clear. Drain thoroughly. Place rinsed rice in a donabe clay pot or heavy-lidded rice cooker. Add the dashi or water, sake, salt, and light soy sauce. If using kombu, add it now. Stir once to combine the seasoning liquid with the rice.
3. 3
   Drain the soaked chestnuts and lay them across the surface of the seasoned rice in a single layer. Do not stir them in. The chestnuts must sit on top so they steam in place during cooking — this is where the dish lives or dies: chestnuts disturbed before or during cooking break apart, losing both shape and the gentle sweetness they release whole into the rice beneath them.
4. 4
   If cooking in a donabe: bring to the boil over medium heat with the lid on, then reduce to the lowest possible heat and cook for 12–15 minutes. If a rice cooker is used, set to the standard white-rice cycle. In either vessel, resist lifting the lid during cooking. When done, the steam escaping from the lid will have slowed to a near stop and a faint, dry, slightly caramelised scent — okoge — may be detected at the base of the donabe pot.
5. 5
   Remove from heat. Rest, lid on, for exactly 10 minutes. The residual steam finishes the rice and firms the chestnuts. Open the lid: the rice surface should appear dry and glistening, each grain distinct.
6. 6
   Using a wide rice paddle (shamoji), fold the chestnuts gently into the rice with a cutting-and-turning motion — never stirring or pressing. The chestnuts must hold their shape within the finished rice. Portion into lacquer or ceramic bowls and finish with a sprinkle of black sesame seeds or goma shio. The sesame should be perceptible on the nose before the bowl reaches the mouth.