My son’s favorite song these days is “Ookina Kuri no Ki no Shita de” (Under the Big Chesnut Tree). He seemed bringing home a deep memory about this song since it was taught in jidokan (children hall) during the last month, which is like compulsory song for Japanese kids in the autumn. Haha. Meanwhile, in the Mom’s world, kuri (chestnut) itself started stealing my heart by showing up more often on Japanese patisserie, Japanese cooking programs, Japanese foodie accounts, etc. right after the summer season ends.. 🤤 Anddd as a nuts big fan, I can’t resist its charm that impulsively bought a basket of fresh chesnuts without idea how much effort I need to peel until I spent 1,5 hours just to separate the meats and the shells of (only) two dozens chesnuts 😑. Phew!

I read the recipe to make maron paste (マロンペースト) from scratch indeed, but it didn’t tell anything about peeling process, just boiling, and between the hectic moments in preparing dinner meal, I had no time to watch the video, so I kept going. After boiling in the covered pot for 20 minutes, I added a pinch of salt, boiled again for 5 minutes, drained the water, soaked the chesnuts in the cold water, then peeled it using small knife.

I think I’ll buy the ready-to-eat chesnuts next time. Thank you for the experience though! LOL

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