Sweets
Kuri no Shibukawani
Kuri no Shibukawani — chestnuts slow-simmered in sugar with their inner skin on
A luxury sweet from chestnut-growing Hidaka. Only the outer shell is peeled, the inner skin left intact through repeated boilings, then slow-simmered in sugar. Sugar's cost once confined it to festivals and celebrations.
- Origin: Saitama Hidaka
- About 50 km northwest of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Chestnuts, simmered in sugar with their inner skin left on, make this confection. The mealy nut carries a faint bitterness from the skin, its refined sweetness balanced against the chestnut's own flavor for a labor-intensive, luxurious taste, the skin's subtle tartness keeping the sweetness in check.
How it's made
Only the outer shell is peeled away, taking care not to nick the inner skin, and the nuts are parboiled repeatedly with baking soda. Fibers and fuzz on the surface are carefully removed by hand before sugar is added and the chestnuts are simmered slowly under a paper drop-lid, the simmering time said to determine how soft they turn out.
Why it took this shape
In areas known for growing chestnuts, the laborious work of peeling and repeatedly parboiling while keeping the inner skin intact is said to have paired with the luxury of using ample sugar to make this a special dish for festivals and celebrations. A large batch is said to be made at harvest and kept through winter.
Before you go
- How to shop in a depachika (department store food hall)A guide to browsing prepared foods and bento, choosing wagashi as a gift with a good shelf life, sampling etiquette, end-of-day discounts, asking for cold packs and wrapping, and finding your way around a depachika floor.
- Osechi and zoni for the New YearA guide to the meaning behind osechi's tiered boxes, the regional differences in zoni (square vs. round mochi, clear vs. miso broth), and the nanakusa-gayu custom.
- Setsubun: ehomaki and lucky beansA guide to ehomaki, the uncut sushi roll said to be eaten facing a lucky direction on Setsubun, and to mamemaki, the bean-throwing custom with roasted lucky beans.
Dishes in the same style
- Abekawa MochiFresh-pounded rice cake is dusted in soybean flour mixed with sugar. Named for the Abe River, it's said to have been famous among Tokaido travelers as a teahouse specialty and to appear in the travel novel Tokaidochu Hizakurige.
- Iga ManjuSweet bean paste is wrapped in rice flour dough, then coated with dyed sticky rice grains. One account ties the name to the grains' resemblance to a chestnut's spiny husk, and in the western Mikawa region it's said to be offered to Hina dolls at the Doll Festival.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Saitama
- Sakekasu Miso RamenA winter-only ramen from Ageo City, where sake lees from a long-running local brewery are worked into a Chinese restaurant's miso broth. The lees' depth and aroma layer over the miso's savoriness, leaving a mellow finish that warms the body in the cold months.
- Dojo NiPond loach caught in the paddies of eastern Saitama, simmered sweet and savory with shaved burdock, from a land fed by the Arakawa and Tone rivers. Rich in nutrients, it was valued as a tonic and a food for pregnant women.
- Gyoda Furai"Furai" from around Gyoda, Saitama, despite its name, isn't fried — it's grilled. Chopped scallion and pork go on a wheat-flour batter cooked on a griddle, an okonomiyaki-like snack said to have caught on with the women working the town's tabi-sock factories.
- Higashimatsuyama YakitoriPork cheek grilled over charcoal and brushed with a spicy miso sauce.
- HiyajiruSesame and miso ground in a mortar, mixed with summer vegetables like cucumber and shiso, then chilled with cold water. It serves as a dipping broth for udon in noodle-loving Saitama, and Kawajima town calls it suttate.
- Iga ManjuA sweet bean bun wrapped in red rice and steamed, said to originate in Konosu. Named for its resemblance to a spiky chestnut burr, it balances a sweet-salty flavor with a chewy bite.