Donabe Yakiguri Gohan (Roasted Chestnut Rice) 焼き栗ご飯

Kuri-gohan and O-koge
Kuri-gohan is an autumn favorite, as are yaki-kuri (yakiguri), or roasted chestnuts. This dish is slightly novel in that combines the two. Kuri-gohan is wonderful but it lacks the smokey aroma of well roasted chestnuts. Peeling chestnuts is a bit of a pain, but it is worth the effort and cannot be beat. Roasting and peeling chestnuts can be done with family or friends and makes for a nice time. This dish goes well with seasonal tsukemono pickles and grilled fish.

This dish has a good deal of sugar content from the chestnuts, sake and mirin, so if cooked in a donabe earthenware pot you can be sure that you will get a nice crust of o-koge (お焦げ), slightly burned rice, at the bottom of the donabe pot.

Yakiguri Gohan – Roasting Chestnuts Over Open Flame

The same effect can be accomplished with charcoal, an electric broiler, or even a torch.

Yakiguri Gohan – Roasted Chestnuts, Still Smoldering

These are a bit underdone.

Yaki-kuri Gohan Recipe
Using roasted chestnuts makes this recipe different from the usual kuri gohan.

Ingredients

• 20-30 medium size fresh chestnuts
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups short grain white rice
• fresh water, equal to amount of rice after washing (if using donabe)
• 2 tablespoons sake (ryorishu cooking sake or sake)
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt
• dashi kombu (kelp for dashi broth)

Preparation
Peeling the chestnuts: There are numerous ways to peel chestnuts in Japan; boiling, roasting and just peeling raw with a sharp paring knife. Yakiguri (roasted chestnuts) gives a more kobashii (smokey and aromatic) flavor so we flamed the chestnuts to peel them. A charcoal grill could be used as well, the point is the infrared heat.

Chestnuts can be peeled easiest when they are hot, the hotter the better. Try roasting them in small batches to keep them hot while peeling. I burned away most of the outer shell over the gas range and then peeled away the inner skin with my fingers and sometimes favorite ceramic paring knife.

I returned the peeled chestnuts to the flame for just a few seconds to give them some additional ‘yaki’ roast flavor and aroma.

Donabe: Rinse the rice with water several times and place in colander while preparing the donabe and other ingredients. Remeasure rice and add to donabe. Add the same amount of water as rice. Then add sake, mirin and salt. Mix chestnuts into the rice and liquid and place small sheet of dried dashi kombu on top. You could use up to 1 cup of sake in place of water if you want to be very luxurious. Don’t skimp on salt, chestnuts need a good deal of salt to bring out their sweetness.

Heat until near boil and cover donabe. Reduce heat and set timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove heat (if you are using an electric range, move the donabe from heat source) and set timer for another 10 minutes.

Uncover and mix gently with shamoji rice paddle and break chestnuts into pieces. You could leave them whole if you like, but that creates a presentation conundrum, or at least in Kyoto it might.

Yakiguri Gohan – Roasted Chestnuts, Ready to Peel

These are well done, the shell has almost been burned away completely. The trick is to peel the inner skin while the chestnut is still hot.

Yakiguri Gohan – Peeled and Roasted Chestnuts

I put these to the flame again for a few seconds after peeling.

Cooking Yakiguri Gohan in Donabe

Cooking Yakiguri Gohan in Donabe

Cooking Yakiguri Gohan in Donabe – Boiling and Ready to Cover

Cooking Yakiguri Gohan in Donabe – 20 Minutes Later, Dekita! (Done)

Generally the kombu is discarded, but I (Peko) like to bite off a chunk and chew it while I am serving the meal.

Yakiguri Gohan – Two Ways to Serve

The Presentation Conundrum
The presentation conundrum is with the whole chestnuts, on the right. Some will probably have been broken in the peeling process and the rice sticks to the tops and sides of the chestnuts in an unnatural and icky way. While the whole chestnuts look much more sexy, gently breaking them with the shamoji rice paddle solves the presentation conundrum and creates a uniform taste. This dish has only three main flavors: rice, chestnut and salt. If you don’t have whole chestnut in every bite, you might be disappointed.

Yakiguri Gohan – Whole Chestnuts

Nice o-koge charring on rice from the bottom of the donabe, this maybe a little too much. The o-koge should never make the rice become hard nor black, golden brown is what you are after. A tiny bit less heat would have made the o-koge come out perfect.

Yakiguri Gohan – Rice and Chestnuts Mix

The bit of rice at the top right of the bowl sticking out is very bad form, you can tell a foreigner served this! Everything inside the bowl, no stray rice sticking grains to the mouth of the bowl!

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Home Cooking: Shishito Peppers and Jako Simmered in Soy Sauce

Shishito peppers are perhaps the most commonly consumed variety of pepper in Japan. Shishito peppers are ‘peppery’ in flavor and while fairly sweet, it seems that in every bunch of shishito there are one or two hot ones. As you bite into one, you never know if you have a zinger or not! In Japan, Shishito are available all year now.

About the Name of the Dish
‘Itame’ means to saute and ‘ni’ means to simmer, as in nizakana (simmered fish).

Shishito Peppers

Saute Jako in Sesame Oil

Simmer in Sake

Shishito Peppers and Jako Itameni Recipe
Be sure not to use chirimen jako that has already been flavored with shoyu and/or sansho. Chirimen should be whitish grey in color, not brownish red.

Ingredients

• 20-30 Japanese shishito peppers
• 1/2 cup chirmen jako (plain, not sansho flavored)
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/2 – 1 cup sake or cooking sake (ryorishu)
• 5 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce (shoyu)
• 1-2 tablespoons mirin (sweet cooking sake)

Preparation
Wash shishito and remove stems. Saute chirimen jako in smoking hot oil 1 or 2 minutes then add shishito and reduce heat. After the bottoms of the shishito have browned slightly pour on sake and cover. After 2 to 3 minutes and most of the sake has been absorbed, add the soy sauce and mirin and simmer until absorbed.

You can add sugar to caramelize the chirimen jako, if you like.

point: Don’t overcook. If shishito are overcooked the collapse and become flat. You want them to be cook and retain their shape. Adjust the amount of soy sauce to suit your taste. This is a side dish, not a main dish. It is intended to be salty.

Shishito Peppers and Jako Itameni – Served

This is another dish that you ought to be able to adapt easily with local vegetables in your region. As chirimen jako is dried, it ought to be relatively easy to obtain outside of Japan. Try online. Let us know of your localized creations!

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Miwa’s Kyoto Kitchen Recipe This recipe is a staple of late summer and early autumn home cooking in Japan. Eggplants are grilled under direct flame, peeled, chilled and served with bonito shavings, grated ginger and soy sauce. The taste is pungent and smoky. This dish is very quick and easy to make.

Don’t let your daughter-in-law eat autumn eggplant!
While in season in summer too, autumn eggplant is said to taste best. This is due to the difference in temperature between day and night which make the eggplant tastier and more pleasing in texture. Autumn eggplant is considered so good that there is even an old saying; don’t let your daughter-in-law eat autumn eggplant! (秋なすは、嫁に食わすな)

This saying has two interpretations. One is that autumn eggplant is too good for the daughter-in-law — she can have porridge or something. Another meaning is more interesting and relevant. According to Japanese folk wisdom, eggplant cools the body and a woman wanting or expecting a baby will want to keep her body warm, not cool. So, eating eggplant keeps you cool!

My version of this dish is to chill the eggplant in the refrigerator or freezer before eating. This obviously makes it even more cooling on the body. Perfect for summer or early autumn!

Japanese Eggplant

Hitting Eggplants Together

Score Eggplant

Scoring the skin of the eggplant makes it easier to peel the skin away after charring.

Grilled Eggplant ‘Yakinasu’ Recipe

Ingredients

• 6-10 Japanese ‘nasu’ eggplants
• shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
• hana katsuo (shaved bonito)
• ginger

Preparation
Wash eggplants well. Bang the eggplants together gently about 50 times each to facilitate removal of the skin after grilling. Trim the points off the stem ‘cap’ of the eggplants. Score the skin on opposite sides from end to end, lengthwise, as seen in photo above.

Preheat grill at full flame. Reduce heat and add eggplants and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes, turning as needed. Increase heat if needed to sufficiently char the skin of the eggplant.

Remove and allow to cool enough to handle. Pull charred skin away from flesh, from top to bottom. It should come off cleanly in two sheets.

Chill peeled grilled eggplant in refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Scatter shaved fish and grate ginger on top add Japanese soy sauce to taste.

point: You want the eggplant to be cooked thoroughly but not well-done. The charring imparts flavor and fragrance to the dish, so you don’t want them underdone either.

Grilling Eggplant

Peeling Eggplant

Autumn Grilled Eggplant Served 秋なすの焼きなす

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Home Cooking: Kyoto-style Sweet Potato (Sui-to Poteto) with Cinnamon

Classic Modern Japanese Sweet: Sui-to Poteto
Sui-to Poteto is a classic that was invented in 1949 by Matsuzo Inoue, the patisserie at the exclusive Imperial (Teikoku) Hotel in Tokyo. Though he was based in Tokyo, his philosophy about food seems informed by Kyoto’s culinary culture; select quality and seasonal ingredients and endeavor to bring out the taste of the ingredients. Chef Inoue’s creation can now be found in confectionaries and bakeries all over Japan.

The sweet potato came to Japan some 300 years ago and is now a very common ingredient in many wagashi confections. (See below for details.)

Kyoto Cinnamon Omiyage: Yatsuhashi
Cinnamon came to Japan in the 8th century. At that time cinnamon was considered more a medicine than a spice. It was used to cure stomach aches, fever, improve blood circulation and warm the body. Yatsuhashi is Kyoto’s ubiquitous confection, it is omiyage, or souvenir. Yatsuhashi comes in numerous variaties but is invariably mochi, either fresh or baked, that has been flavored with cinnamon. There are countless companies and stores in Kyoto that make and sell yatsuhashi, at least three have been in business for more than 300 years!

Therefore, we added cinnamon to our sui-to poteto to make it Kyoto-style.

Japanese ‘Satsuma Imo’ Sweet Potato

Steaming Satsuma Imo

Mashing with Butter

Mixing in Cinnamon

Kyoto-style ‘Sui-to Poteto’ Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes (about 500 grams total)
• 6 tablespoons sugar (we like natural brown sugar)
• 30 grams butter
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 2 egg yolk (one for potato mixture one for glaze)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt (if desired)
• sesame seeds

＊Our measurements are approximate and we assume that our readers are foodies, so please taste along the way and adjust as you see fit.

point: To be Kyoto-style the final product should not be too sweet and the cinnamon should not overpower any of the other tastes. You want to bring out the natural taste of the sweet potato, enhance it with sweetness and richness. The cinnamon should be the grab your attention immediately but be the finish. Complexity and subtlety is the point, but by no means be dull!

Preparation
Wash the sweet potatoes. Cut into 2 cm thick slices. Steam gently for 0ver low heat for 20 to 30 minutes. Place in mixing bowl and remove skins after the slices have cooled enough to touch. It is important to gently steam the sweet potatoes at a relatively low temperature as this will increase the natural sweetness of the potatoes. (Best not to cheat and use the microwave!)

Mashing and mixing by hand, stir in butter and sugar. (A mixer can be used but we liked ours with a little chunkiness left. See last photo below for interior detail.) Mix in egg yolk and milk. Taste and add sugar and/or butter if needed. Stir in half the cinnamon and taste. Add remaining cinnamon as needed.

Gently form into roughly ping pong sized balls. Squeeze chakin shibori style if you like. Simply use damp muslin or similar cloth for this and rinse occasionally.

Brush on egg yolk glaze and add several sesame seeds on top. The second time we made this, I used white sesame seeds for some and sprinkled sugar on others.

Cook for 15 minutes in oven with broiler at 200 c or oven toaster. We tried both and definitely liked the oven toaster sui-to poteto best. You aren’t really cooking it through and through like a chocolate chip cookie, just getting it hot and browning the top.

Chakin Shibori – Twist and Squeeze in Muslin Cloth

Chakin shibori (茶巾絞り) is used to shape many wagashi confections.

Chakin Shibori Formed Sui-to Poteto

Notice the delicate texture imparted to the raw ‘sui-to poteto’ from the chakin cloth.

Egg Yolk and Black Sesame Seeds

Baking Sui-to Poteto

Sui-to Poteto – Served

Sui-to Poteto and Milk

Sui-to Poteto – detail

Sweet Potatoes in Japanese Culinary Culture
Sweet potatoes are more ubiquitous in Japan than you might imagined. They are used in all sorts of dishes, especially confections. Sweet potatoes came to Japan from South America through Southeast Asia, China and the Ryukyu Kingdom, present-day Okinawa and landed in Kyushu about 300 years ago.

Production of satsuma imo soon flourished on the southern tip of Japan (called Satsuma then) because of the volcanic soil and hot climate. Kyushu’s famed imo-jochu, the shochu distilled alcohol of the region, is made from these same sweet potatoes. Farther north in Japan wheat and rice is used.

Production of sweet potatoes was limited to the Satsuma region for some time until a horrible famine swept Japan. The people in present-day Kagoshima and Nagasaki prefectures fared significantly better than other areas because they had an abundant supply of rich and hardy sweet potatoes. After the famine, satsuma imo production was promoted by the Tokugawa Shogunate in Tokyo and quickly spread throughout the country.

from KyotoFoodie article Satsuma Imo (Sweet Potato) Caramel

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