In this recipe, we utilized the black garlic oil and puffball paste from our previous recipes to create an umami chestnut (Castanea sativa) filling that can be used in many dishes. You can find some examples of serving suggestions below this recipe.
In many countries, edible chestnuts are commercially available in the fall. In the wild, you can find edible chestnuts and poisonous ones (Aesculus hippocastanum). The poisonous chestnuts can be used to produce soap. Care should be taken to not confuse these two chestnut varieties. Luckily they are quite easy to distinguish. We summarised key differences in the table below: leaves, shells, and nuts.
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Umami chestnut filling
Equipment
- 1 cooking pot
- 1 sauté pan
Ingredients
- 200 grams Chetsnuts
- 2 tbsp Wild black garlic oil https://chefofnature.com/?p=1281
- 3 tbsp Koji fermented puffball paste https://chefofnature.com/?p=1096
- 1 tbsp Crow garlic leaves optional
- 4 tbsp Neutral oil
Instructions
- Wash the chestnuts and carve a cross trough the outer skin with a sharp knife.
- Boil the chestnuts for 30 minutes and rinse them in cold water afterward, the cuts should open a bit as shown in the image.
- Peel the outer skin of the chestnuts.
- Chop the chestnuts into small bits (you can use a food processor to grain chestnuts).
- Heat neutral oil and fry chestnuts for 5 minutes.
- Add wild garlic oil, puffball paste, and crow garlic. Mix all well.
Serving suggestions
As an onigiri filling: The bold flavor of our chestnut filling works well with onigiri (Japanese rice balls).
As omelet filling: We gave a twist to a classic French farmer-style omelet with our chestnut filling. As a finishing touch, we sprinkled our black wild garlic oil on top.
As a garnish: Our umami chestnut filling can also be used as a delicious garnish in a similar way as fried onions. We used it to garnish the nigiri sushi with fermented prince mushroom shown in the picture below. Here you can find more about fermenting mushrooms.
