Not sure about other regions in the world, but in the US, every fall, people see pouches of roasted and raw chestnuts placed on local grocers’ shelves. I used to chat with a Japanese accountant during my work breaks. He once mentioned to me how wonderful chestnut rice (Kuri gohan) tastes. It was also in the fall. It turned out chestnuts is a very seasonal ingredient used by a lot of cultures around the world. People fix chestnuts in different ways, such as candied (Japanese/French), dry roasted with sugar (popular in China), chestnut cakes (Monta Blanc), and chestnut soup…
Among all the chestnut recipes, candied chestnuts and chestnut cakes involve a lot of work. Therefore, I only cook the simple one: chestnut soup. A little caveat is removing the shell and skin could be daunting. I researched techniques of removing the skin on Google. Even though, it looks easy in the videos, it seems like the type of chestnut is critical. There are times I must use a knife to peel the skin after removing the shell. Despite the tedious skin removal, it’s still worthwhile to cook this dish to have a taste of autumn and harvest. In addition, chestnuts contain decent amount of antioxidants.
Silky Chestnut Soup 法式板栗浓汤
Equipment
- 1 6-8" sauce pan
- 1 10-12" frying pan (with a lid)
- 1 Blender
Ingredients
- 12-16 oz unshelled chestnut
- 0.5 medium onion
- 2 clove garlic
- 1.5 tbsp butter
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 1 oz whole milk
- 4 cups chicken stock
Instructions
- Use a pair of scissors to score the chestnuts
- Add water to the sauce pan, and heat it to boil on the stove at high heat
- Add the scored chestnuts to the boiling water, and let it boil for 2-3 minutes
- While boiling the chestnuts, put the frying pan onto stove, and heat up the pan
- Pour out the water completely. Transfer the chestnuts to the frying pan, and cover it with a lid. Let the chestnuts roast for 60-90 seconds
- Peel the chestnuts while they are still warm
- There might be some chestnuts that are hard to peel. Simply remove the shell by using a knife to peel the skin
- Mince the garlic and onion
- Add the butter to the sauce pan, and place it onto the stove. Turn the heat to medium. Once the butter is molten, add garlic and onion
- Sautee the garlic and onion for 2-3 minutes. Add the peeled chestnut and the chicken stock. Heat to boil, put the lid on, and let it simmer for 15-20 mins. Season with salt
- Cool down the pan with a cold water bath. Transfer the mixture to the blender. Mix for about 20-30 seconds at high speed
- Pour to serving bowls, add the milk, and warm it in the microwave
- Add some decoration
Video
Notes
- Removing the chestnut shell and skin is never easy for me. It seems the type of chestnut is pretty critical. Most of time this process works well, but sometimes I have to use a knife to peel the skin after removing the shell.
- I use whole milk instead of heavy cream.
- I don't have a hand mixer (immersion blender). Thus, I used a regular blender. If you like the soup to be very silk and smooth, mix for 60-90 seconds. The issue is that the soup could be very thick.
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