I love chestnuts so much. Boiled, braised with the stew, steamed with the rice, etc...there are different ways to cook the chestnuts. But, my favorite way of eating the chestnuts is definitely roasting.
In Japan, you can find street venders selling roasted chestnuts, called "Tenshin Amaguri". Traditionally, they roast the chestnuts in a big pot with the tiny round pebbles. (This method was first introduced by Chinese people who moved to Japan back in 19th Century.) The heated pebbles promotes the FIR (Far Infrared Radiation) and gradually cooks each chestnut to the core. The result is the wonderfully rich-textured chestnuts which can peel easily.
Without the pebbles, I can also make the rich roasted chestnuts with my tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san". After soaking the chestnuts in water overnight, I made the incision on the flat side of each chestnut's skin. Then, they were roasted in the "Fukkura-san" over medium-high heat (stove top) with the lid on for 35-40 minutes. (Meanwhile, I turned them over just once.)
After turning off the heat, they were rested in the donabe for another 10 minutes.
My beautiful chestnut. I could even peel the skin so easily just like "Tenshin Amaguri".
