Kuri no Shibukawani Candied Chestnuts in Inner Skin

Quick answer

Total time: 550 min
Level: Hard
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 4

About this dish

Kuri no shibukawani is an autumn sweet from Saitama that removes only the hard outer chestnut shell, preserves the thin inner skin, repeatedly boils away its astringency, and gently candies the whole nuts in sugar syrup.

Large chestnuts from producing areas such as Hidaka were preferred, and when sugar was costly the dish belonged to festivals and celebrations rather than ordinary meals. Any cut through the inner skin can make a nut collapse during the many boiling cycles, so the chestnuts soak for half a day to soften their shells before careful peeling from the base. Baking soda assists the first dark extraction, followed by four or five brief boils in clean water. Once tender, sugar is added in three portions so concentration rises gradually without toughening or breaking the nuts. Salt enters at the end, and cooling undisturbed in syrup gives a glossy intact finish.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmountUnit

large fresh chestnuts1 kgkg

baking soda15 gg

sugar450 gg

salt5 gg

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Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

7 steps

1

Step

Soak 1kg fresh chestnuts in plenty of cold water for 6 to 12 hours to soften the outer shells.

Discard floating or insect-damaged nuts and drain.
2

Step

Insert a small knife shallowly at the base and remove only the hard outer shell.

Keep the blade away from the brown inner skin and set deeply nicked nuts aside for another use.
3

Control

Cover the chestnuts generously with cold water in a wide pot and add 15g baking soda.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, lower the heat, simmer 10 minutes, and carefully drain the blackened water without knocking the nuts together.
4

Step

Keep the chestnuts in lukewarm water and remove coarse veins and fuzz from each nut with a bamboo skewer or soft toothbrush.

Do not remove the inner skin; rinse twice in clean water.
5

Control

Cover with fresh water, simmer gently for 5 to 6 minutes, and drain; repeat four times.

When the final water is pale and a skewer enters smoothly, lift the nuts one by one into a colander.
6

Control

Arrange the chestnuts in one layer in a clean pot and add just enough water to cover.

Add 150g sugar and simmer 10 minutes, then repeat twice more with 150g each time and 10 minutes of simmering.
7

Season

Dissolve 5g salt in the syrup and turn off the heat.

Keep the chestnuts submerged with a paper drop lid and cool completely in the pot before lifting each nut with a clean spoon.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: One kilogram whole chestnuts with inner skin
Finish cue: Keep the chestnuts in lukewarm water and remove coarse veins and fuzz from each nut with a bamboo skewer or soft toothbrush.
Avoid this: Do not remove the inner skin; rinse twice in clean water.
Storage and reheating: Keep the chestnuts submerged with a paper drop lid and cool completely in the pot before lifting each nut with a clean spoon.