Autumn Japanese - Chestnut Rice and Hearty Miso Soup / 秋の栗ご飯と具沢山味噌汁

I recently came across some plump, beautiful chestnuts from France at the organic shop I often visit. While autumn is also chestnut season in Germany, I don’t often see fresh chestnuts like these, so I couldn’t resist buying them. My daughter and I both love Kuri Gohan (Japanese chestnut rice), a classic autumn dish in Japan, and I wanted to make it.

Last week, I was treated to a delicious Takikomi Gohan (Japanese mixed rice) at one of my cooking friends' place, and it was so good that I’ve been inspired to explore different kinds of mixed rice dishes this autumn and winter. After that I ordered special sticky rice we use for mixed rice. I’ve just received it and it was time to cook chestnut rice 🥳

To make the chestnuts easier to peel, I soaked them in hot water for about 30 minutes. This softens the outer shell and makes peeling much easier. As always, I forgot to take some photos while cooking 😅 The chestnuts were large, so I cut them into quarters before cooking them with 1.5 cups of regular rice and 0.5 cups of sticky rice, adding salt and a piece of kelp.

While cooking the chestnut rice, I chopped a bunch of seasonal vegetables and made a hearty miso soup. One of the seasonal vegetables I’m particularly happy to see again is Brussels sprouts, which are starting to appear in stores now. I like the earthy flavor and my daughter likes its miniature cabbage outlook.

I also made one of my family’s favorites— Tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelette), though, again, I forgot to take any photos while cooking it ... 😅 Anyways, I was happy to see the finished dishes on the table and receive compliments from my family.

As the weather gets colder, I’m looking forward to enjoying more warm, hearty meals and making the most of this autumn and winter.

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よく買い物をするオーガニックショップに丸々とした立派なフランス産の生栗が並んでいました。ドイツでも秋は栗のシーズンなのですが、生栗を見かけることはそこまでなく迷わず買ってきました。子供も私も大好きな日本の秋の定番の栗ご飯を作るためです。

先日お友達のおうちで炊き込みご飯をご馳走になって、とてもおいしくて、この秋冬は炊き込みご飯に凝りたいと思って購入した餅米も到着して準備万端です。

栗を熱湯に30分ほど浸しておくと、外側の硬い皮が柔らかくなってむきやすくなります。毎度のことながら写真撮影は適当で、ご飯を炊いている様子の写真がありませんでした 😅 栗が大きかったので1/4くらいに切って、1.5合の白米と0.5合の餅米に塩と昆布と加えて炊きました。

栗ご飯の横で季節の野菜をざんざん切って、炒めて豚汁風の秋の具沢山味噌汁を作りました。秋から冬にかけて出回る芽キャベツも大喜びで最近買った野菜の一つです。

これまた焼いている写真がまったくないのですが、家族が大好きな卵焼きも焼きました。あ・・・食卓には私のキムチも並んでいますね。寒い時期になるとドイツ産のきれいな白菜がこれまたお店に並ぶようになるのです。

そんなこんなで、旅行から戻ってきた家族を迎えて、久しぶりにみんなで囲む秋の食卓に並べる和食に腕をふるったのでした。寒さはきつくなりますが、温かいものをおいしく食べて楽しく秋冬を過ごしたいです。

みなさんの故郷の料理、今住んでいる地域の料理について読んでみたいです。もしよかったらリポストでもよいのでFood & Cultureに参加してみてください！