Recently, I came across a post on Kyoto Foodie (one of my new favorite food blogs!) about a seasonal dish called yakikuri gohan, or roasted chestnut rice. The ingredients were few and simple, and seeing that I'd just bought a big batch of chestnuts at the farmer's market, I decided to make this!
After I roasted and peeled the chestnuts, I washed the rice and added it to my rice cooker along with the chestnuts, mirin, salt, and kombu. Kyoto Foodie says "you could use up to 1 cup of sake in place of water if you want to be very luxurious" and I did this. Even though she suggests cooking it in a donabe pot, I preferred to use my rice cooker.
Result? Delicious! What a great one-dish meal. It was hearty, sweet, savory, and filling. I would definitely make this again - it was just so easy and yummy. The only real work was peeling the chestnuts. If you can't find fresh chestnuts or don't want to deal with peeling, buy vacuum-sealed peeled chestnuts instead.
Get the recipe: Kyoto Foodie's Roasted Chestnut Rice
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(Image: Kathryn Hill)
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I would never have thought to put roasted chestnuts into rice, but this looks amazing! I'll have to try it!
This looks so delicious! I can just imagine how the sweetness of the kuri and the savory rice balance each other. I must try this.
I love variations of steamed rice like matsutake gohan, taimeshi, and okowa. Another fall favorite is takikomi gohan—hoka hoka comfort food at its finest. Thanks for sharing!
Mmm, I'm making this ASAP. I love anything, sweet or savory, with chestnuts.
Azusa, thanks for the new recipe ideas!
Ooo, just try this. We're going chestnut picking in a couple of weekends and now I'll have something I can do with them!
i remember eating a similar dish while in Tokyo. it had the very sticky rice usually used in mochi, plus roasted chestnuts and red azuki beans. it had wonderful delicate flavors, and the texture was nothing short of heavenly. it became one of my favorite japanese dishes.
Oh wow! My recipe on The Kitchn! I am honored. I am glad you liked it.
Yes, even if you cannot easily imagine chestnuts and rice together, they get on very well together. Even for someone that is not into some of the more challenging Japanese cuisine, this dish would be no problem for them.
The sekihan (red azuki bean rice) is very popular in Japan and often has chestnuts added to it. That dish is very sweet, a dessert. This one is dinner though.
If you would like to see some Kyoto kaiseki style sekihan, check out this KF article:
http://kyotofoodie.com/kichisen-kaiseki-shogatsu-ryori/