---
title: Chestnut rice (kuri gohan)
url: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/notes/chestnut-rice/
lang: en
journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/aridagawa-2/
---

# Chestnut rice (kuri gohan)

Cook the local flavors once more　/　Aridagawa, Wakayama

My first chestnut rice, made with chestnuts I had picked myself. The hard outer shell is called onikawa, the demon skin, and the thin inner skin shibukawa, the astringent skin; a quick boil or a soak in hot water softens them before peeling. It is not easy work, but it empties the mind.

## Ingredients

- Chestnuts (freshly picked)
- Rice
- Black sesame seeds

## How I made it

1. Soak the chestnuts in water for a while to drive out insects and soften the shells
2. Boil briefly, cut a notch in the base, and peel off the hard outer shell
3. Soak in hot water again, peel away the inner skin, and drop into water
4. Cook with the rice, serve in bowls, and sprinkle with black sesame

## This moment in the journey: An autumn feast

The chestnut rice turned out beautifully. When I lifted the lid of the pot, golden chestnuts tumbled into view. The foil parcel of mushrooms I grilled over the charcoal in the garden; opening it released steam and the smell of butter.

On the table: chestnut rice sprinkled with black sesame, the foil-grilled mushrooms, and the bonito and mandarin carpaccio. I poured a non-alcoholic beer, and the autumn feast began. Rich bonito and juicy early mandarin, together in one bite. Wakayama's strongest tag team, perhaps.

Seasonal flavors, made from ingredients I had harvested myself. It felt as if I had turned the page of the season with my own hands, and that made me very happy. Ah, autumn, the season of appetite. Out on the veranda, a lamp glowed in the night.

![A bowl of chestnut rice sprinkled with black sesame](https://karigurashijourney.com/img/aridagawa-2/s87-1200.jpg)

Read this scene in the full journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/aridagawa-2/