Chesutnut Soup 栗スープ

 

（ 最後の方に　日本語で　栗スープのレシピが　書いてあります。）

Chestnut, chestnut, chestnut...

I see abundant of chestnuts fallen on the ground this year.

Whenever I see them while I am taking a walk, I am tempted to pick them up though I know that I am not supposed to do so.

I must confess that I picked up  a few quickly  and let them accompany with the aorns and husk tomatoes that I picked up previous days on the counter of my living room. 

It was a joyful moment.

And they make me happy.

Last sunday, I had an occasion to pick up chestnusts freely getting permission  from the owner of the trees. 

Yes, I picked up so many of them, merrily like a small child,

saying "Ouch! Ouch !" now and then when I touched the husk by mistake.

 

But when I was back home and spread them on the floor, I realized I was too greedy.

I had to spend hours for preservation and for cooking,  removing the shells and peeling the inner skins.

Anyway I love chestnuts !

I like to eat the steamd chestnuts most.

To me, it is the easiest method to prepare and also to eat.

Just place the chestnuts and water in the pressure cooker and apply pressure for 10 to 20 minutes depending on the size of the chestnut.

(You do not need to remove the shells for this.)

And wait until the pressure is released. 

You can cut the chustnut into half and dig out the flesh with a spoon to pop into your mouth.

I tranform them into other dishes too.

Steamed glutinous rice with chestnuts,

 chestnut cream,

 chestnut cake,

Chestunut doughnuts

This year I added lots of them into my moon cakes.

Oh yes, I make moon cakes every year after coming back to Japan as they are not available here.

However I have never been satisfied with my moon cakes yet, so I still can't introduce them in my class.

I've been experimenting this and that, as I do not want to use lye water, so much oil, and the eggs for glossing.  

Well, I hope I can suceed in making much healthier and beautiful looking moon cake one day.

Today, I am going to share my chestnut soup recipe with you.

Try it when you find chestnuts in supermarket.

(I saw them sold in Meidi-Ya, Singapore around this time two years ago.

But if you can't find them, you can replace  with other starchy vegetables such as potatoes or broccolis.)

Click the following counter to read a recipe of the next page.

 

Ingredients  (for2~ 4 servings)

2 cups  chestnuts         1 onion

1 tsp oil                       1/2 tsp  salt                 

3 cups water                1/2 cup soy milk (optional)

Method

1. Soak chestnuts in water for one night.
2. Remove the shell, and peel off the inner skin with a knife.  (this is the most time consuming  part of this recipe.)   Cut into quarters.
3. Chop onions finely, and saute over low flame till translucent.
4. Add in prepared chestnuts and saute for another 10 minutes.
5. Add in water.  Remove the small foams on the surface when it started boiling.
6. Reduce heat to low, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer till chestnuts are soft.
7. Add in salt to taste and let it cool down.
8. Transfer into a blender to puree.
9. Heat up with soy milk and serve.

Tips

• If you find it is not easy to peel the chestnuts,  you can steam it with a pressure cooker just for a few minutes, and then release the pressure immediately by pouring cold water onto it.   It is much easier to peel this way.    But I found the soup tastes nicer when we saute the raw vegetables slowly rather than sauteing cooked ones.

• You can add a little amount of water if chestnut sticks to the bottom of the pot when you saute.

• I use only salt for seasoning, but if you find something is missing, you can add pepper or other spices or herbs of your choice.

Here are the pictures of the chestnut tree that I took in July.

They were still green and looked so beautiful on that day.

The picture of the top page is the scenery near my home.

The trees  behind the pink colour flowers -they are Cosmos and is written autumn cherry blossom in Japanese writing- are also chestnut trees.

( I am going to change the top cover when the season has changed, therefore if you are seeing this page after October 2015, you are probably seeing different picture, though.)

栗スープ

材料

栗　　　2カップ　　　　玉ねぎ　中一個

油　　　小さじ１　　　　塩　小さじ1/2

水　　　3カップ　　　　豆乳1/2カップ　（お好みで）

作り方

1. 栗を　一晩水に漬ける。
2. 漬けた後、鬼皮と渋皮をむいて　4等分くらいの大きさに切っておく。（一番　大変なところです。）
3. 玉ねぎは　みじん切りにしてから、弱火で炒める。　しんなりしてきたら、下準備した栗を加えて、さらに　10分ほど炒める。　
4. 水を加えて、火を中火に上げる。　沸騰したら　表面に浮いたアクを取り除く。
5. ふたをして、栗が柔らかくなるまで　弱火で煮る。
6. 塩で味付けしたのち　ミキサーでクリーム状にする。
7. 鍋に戻し、お好みで　豆乳を加え、温める。

ポイント

• 皮むきを楽に済ませたいときは、次の方法でしてみて下さい。　圧力鍋に栗と水を入れて　2分ほど圧力をかけたる。　直後に　水を鍋の上からかけて　急速に圧力を抜く。　そうするとずっとむきやすくなります。　ただ　ある程度火が入ってしまいますので、生から　じっくりと　炒めるよりも、　甘みが引き出されないように感じます。

• 炒めている際に、栗が鍋の底にくっつくときは　水を少し加えて　炒め続けます。

• 塩だけで味付けする　シンプルな味のスープですが、お好みで　コショーなど加えて下さい。

HAPPY COOKING !

タグ：chestnut Chestnut soup 栗 How to peel chestnut Japanese Autumn 栗の皮むき 栗料理 栗スープ