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1
Wash the chestnuts lightly, and discard any that have holes in them.
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2
Put the chestnuts in an enamelled or stainless pot with plenty of water.
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3
Discard any chestnuts that float to the surface too.
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4
If you cover the chestnuts with water in the pot, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, they'll become easier to peel.
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5
You can skip this step though.
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6
Good chestnuts have thin shells so be careful.
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7
Cut in between the smooth part and the rough textured part on the bottom of the chestnut, then peel off towards the top.
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8
Here is a peeled chestnut.
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9
They always have one thick fiber, but that will be dealt with later so don't worry about it now.
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10
Soak the chestnuts in water after they are peeled.
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11
If they dry out they may split easily.
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12
Put the chestnuts in a pot with enough water to cover plus 5 to 10 g of bicarbonate of soda, and heat.
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13
When the pot comes to a boil, lower the heat to low-medium, or enough so that the chestnuts don't dance around in the water.
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14
Some foamy scum will rise to the surface - skim if off immediately.
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15
After the chestnuts are simmered, pour off the water gently so as not to break up the chestnuts (you can use a colander for this for just the first round) and rinse under running water.
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16
Wash out the pot at this time too.
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17
Take each chestnut in your hand, and remove the thick fiber gently with a toothpick or something, and rub off any fine fibers gently with your fingers.
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18
If you skip this step the chestnuts will retain their tannic quality, so do this carefully.
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19
Repeat steps 5 to 8 three times, always handling the chestnuts gently.
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20
Then add water only to the chestnuts, bring to a boil and simmer gently for 5 minutes or so to remove the bicarbonate of soda taste.
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21
Do this 1 to 2 times.
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22
Put the chestnuts from Step 9 in a pot with enough water to cover t hem.
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23
Turn on the heat, and add the sugar in 2 to 3 batches.
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24
Bring to a boil, cover with a piece of kitchen parchment paper to act as a drop lid or otoshibuta, and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes.
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25
Leave the chestnuts to cool down in the pot, and they're done.
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26
To give the chestnuts a shine, just take them out and simmer the syrup only to reduce it.
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27
Or to do this even more easily, just add some premade sugar syrup.
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28
You can easily freeze the chestnuts, too.
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29
You will always have some broken or malformed chestnuts!
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30
See this recipe for making an authentic chestnut cream with them..
