Kuri-an

Photo

Recipe

NOTE: We made this fully (including sugar and moisture to taste), then vacuum sealed and froze. Exactly one year later, it still tastes fantastic.

Ingredients

• Fresh chestnuts
• Sugar
• Water

On Teaching-2023-10-28, we made it with the following proportions:

• Started with approximately 800g fresh chestnuts (with some thrown out after weighing due to mold)
• Added at the end:
  • 80g sugar
  • Appx. 100g water
• 630g final weight

Steps

1. Boil whole chestnuts for 30-40 minutes.
   1. Here in Colorado, water boils 5c lower, so we do 40 minutes.
   2. Important note! When you put the chestnuts in originally, some will float. Those are moldy! Throw those away.
   3. Also note that water will make its way into most of the chestnuts through the 40 minutes.
2. Drain and wait until they are cool enough to handle.
3. Peel.
   1. Cut chestnuts in half.
      1. Note: When cutting in half, this is a good time to check for mold. I’m not usually tasting every one, but if they look suspicious, throw them out.
   2. Using a small spoon, scoop out the inside. Don’t worry too much if you get skin in with the mix. We’ll strain later.
4. Strain.
   1. Using a medium-density strainer (not too fine, otherwise it will be impossible), put in a little bit of chestnut at a time and push through the strainer with a wooden spoon. You shouldn’t need to push too hard — just firmly push as you’re going through with the spoon, and it will come out.
   2. Note: We used a mortar and pestle to crush the larger pieces before straining, and that seemed to help.
5. In a saucepan, heat the paste, adding sugar to taste and water until the entire mixture comes together and can be worked into a shape.

Straining setup

Using the OXO strainer, set inside the instant pot (to give some stability and height), with a round wooden spoon.

2024-10-11

• 1321g starting chestnut weight
• 904g sieved chestnut (took a little over 3 hours to do with two people)
  • About 70% yield seems consistent
• Added sugar and water
  • sugar 83 49 49
  • Water 102 93 107 104
• 1455g total yield

Notes for next time

• 1.3kg is way too much to do at once. Do like half.
• With two people, have one peeling and one sieving.
• For sieving:
  • First, crush with mortar and pestle. Crush well, because crushing in the sieve is hard.
  • Then sieve as in the photo above.
• For peeling, easiest to just use a spoon and scoop out.
  • Kristina used a butter knife, and that was easier for her

How to eat