Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.....not!

I'd like to think I'm pretty handy around the kitchen - and perhaps elsewhere but that hardly concerns you. I'd like to believe that I could cook pretty much anything. I might have to try a few times, but eventually I would figure it out.

I guess I was wrong. There is at least one thing that failed me time and time again. Chestnuts. These pesky little nuts. I love eating them, but I am at a complete lost when it comes to cooking them.

When I was growing up in Thailand, I looked forward to these every winter. As soon as the weather got a bit cool, around this time of year, chestnut merchants in Bangkok's Chinatown set up their stalls along Yaowarat road. It was quite a sight, scrawny merchants standing in front of their imposing woks - big enough to deep fry me at that age - filled with tiny pebbles, blackened with soots, and so hot they were nearly molten. Strewn in with the pebbles were plump chestnuts. Each merchant would stir their wok constantly, ensuring even heat to properly cook the chestnuts to perfection. Chestnuts cooked that way were amazing, you could almost pop them out of the shell by simply opening it. Your fingers tips - or your whole hands if you're not careful - would turn black from the soot on the shells, but who could care when the morsels within were so delectable. I for one didn't.

Now that these chestnut stalls are a bit too far to drive, I must find a way to cook the chestnuts myself. This time of year, raw chestnuts are plentiful at all the farmers markets I frequent. Each time I see them, I would buy a bagful.

I tried every recipe I could find, yet each bagful turned out a failure. I tried multiple recipes I found on cookbooks, the web, even the Gourmet's recipe on Epicurious. I have never been successful. I tried marking an X mark on top, on the pointy bottom, or even right smack in the middle of the nuts. It doesn't matter where, it just didn't work. I tried roasting them in the oven, with a bit of water and without. I toasted them in a pan, covered and uncovered. Really. I've tried just about everything I could think of. Still a failure. I would end up with bits of chestnuts exploding in my kitchen, in the oven, some missed me by a hair. Worse yet, they were unevenly cooked, with the stubborn papery skin so tenaciously stuck to the delicious meat that I sometimes just ate them together.

I've just about had it, but I don't want to give up all hopes yet. There has got to be a way, and someone, somewhere, out there, has got to know it. So, I'm begging for your help. You know how to do it, right? You can roast chestnuts so they are cooked evenly and perfectly, and so that that pesky skin part easily from the delicious meat. Yes? Please say yes, you are my last hope. Help!!!

Comments

[rosa]

What? For me it works perfectly, roasting chestnuts in the oven. I can never predict whether the skin will come off easily though - so I always thought it depended on how fresh they are or something.
You definitely need to cut through the skin of each and every chestnut or they will explode. However I find them much easier to peel if I don't cut a cross, but just cut one line through the skin.
Yum! I haven't even had any this autumn yet. Thanks for reminding me :)

[riya]

you cut off "the cookbook" recommendation?

why?

[ilva]

I'm eating perfectly roasted chestnuts right in this moment, I do it on my gas cooker in a special Italian pan, a simple iron one with holes in it! It is possible, don't give up!

[Tamie]

Freshly roasted chestnuts are sold readily where I live in Europe. And stands selling them have already started to pop up. Lucky me :)

PS. Winter in Thailand?

[georgiegirl]

I put a bag of inexpensive whole coffee beans and the chesnuts in the wok on medium heat. I stirred them every so often.

[umami]

Hmm, I just factor in those extra pieces that will explode, isn't it inevitable? I do score it across seems less fiddly than making an X, roast at slow to medium heat slowly, toss once or twice and when done, leave it for a while in the oven.

The skin will come off if peeled after the nuts come out of the oven.

[Kate Hill]

My kitchen godmother here, 'nicks' off a piece of the shell making a good starting point to peel later; then as often as not, we boil them in salted water with a fig leaf added. Why? I don't know but the boiled chestnuts peel easily and taste fabulous...plus your fingers don't get black! We'll miss you this weekend at Camp Cassoulet!

[say ong]

I would give a small slit on the chestnuts penetrating the skin or shell(that is to stop them from exploding) and then pop them in the microwave oven. U need to experiment a bit here. Timing depend on yr microwave power. Hmm, yum, yum.

[faustianbargain]

oven roasting should be fine..but soak them before roasting..i wonder if placing them over a bed of kosher salt will help to roast them uniformly...

i remember how they used to roast peanuts(and other savoury nuts) at the beach in india...very similar to how you described...basically, its a heavy iron wok filled with sand..not just any sand..but sand that is fine grained..the nuts..say peanuts..will be tossed along with the sand so its evenly roasted. a sieve like ladle will pick up the nuts and leave the fine grains of the sand back in the wok..very effective method.

on the other hand..buy this > http://www.chestnutter.com/ ..if you like roasting fresh chestnuts, it'll be the best 25 bucks you'd have spent...

if peeling is difficult..try scoring it on the rounded side of the chestnut..after the meat had roasted, it will curl and peel back because of the heat. you are scoring the 'x' anyways to prevent exploding chestnut..you might as well score across the chestnut instead if it will help the peeling easier.

[Amy]

Growing up in China, these were one of my favorite snacks too. I'm eagerly following the comments to pick up a few tips on how to do this at home.

[yas]

I've done this for several years after seeing it on Martha Stewart. She suggested freezing the chestnut before roasting in the oven. The skins come off so easy.

[kel @ Green Olive Tree]

One Spanish girl taught me how to do this in Barcelona. Make a horizontal slit on the belly of the nut, so that when it's done you would just tilt the upper part backwards to reveal the perfectly roasted flesh. It was a lot easier than the X mark. I also find that roasting a smaller quantity in the oven turns out better. Good luck chica.

[Little Chi]

To prevent those papery skins from sticking to the chestnuts, soak them in water for about an hour. That's what chestnut roasters do in Thailand. When I was living abroad, I make a small slit in each of them and roast them in a small grill-oven. The trick is to turn them them every once in a while. Never had any problem.

[Meena]

I absolutely love raosted chestnuts too. Growing up, it was a winder weekend tradition in our home where my Mom would oven roast a big bowl for the family. The first I tried oven roasting them in my home, they exploded, leaving me tiny burnt bits to scrave off from the oven! How disheartening. Sigh!

[EB]

I always roasted them in an old-school popcorn popper type of deal. Yeeessss some always exploded... but that was the fun of it!

[EB]

I always roasted them in an old-school popcorn popper type of deal. Yeeessss some always exploded... but that was the fun of it!

[BJ]

Ah miss the chestnuts. In India, we use a cast iron wok, filled with fine sand to do the roasting. This is very similar to the method used by your chinese vendors in BKK, only advantage the soot if any stays with the sand. You rost it and then seive out the sand..voila..I have never seen any one making slits, cuts on the nuts before ...cheerio.

[prayer]

i second the frustration. i went to a castanyadas (a catalan chestnut-roasting tradition) today where they were roasting chestnuts in a pan over hot coal. needless to say, most of them ended up pretty burnt. psshhh!!!

[liz]

I use that chestnutter and love it. Then, I use this method:

Preheat oven to 550 for at least 30 minutes.

Score the chestnuts on the flat side of the shell and roast them on a baking sheet at 550 for 5 minutes. Check them to be sure they are not burning. If you need to roast them for a minute or two more to be sure they are open, be very careful they don't burn.

Remove the chestnuts from the oven and immediately cover them with a towel that has been soaked in ice water and wrung out.

When the nuts are cool enough to handle, peel. (If they don't peel easily and some don't, just put back in the oven for a minute or two)

comes from the LA Times Dec. 17, 1995
also in Verge's book Vegetables in the French Manner

[roaster]

I use a box cutter to make a horizontal slit on the belly skin of the nut and roast them in my toaster oven at 500F setting (I think it is really about 450F). No need for aluminum foil or to turn them over or tend them once you have the timing right for your oven. Even when ready, skin is not black. I always squeeze the nuts before I buy them to make sure they are plump and moist. I try to bake them within a day because the dry weather in Toronto will cause them to loose moisture quickly. Once that happens, then the skin will stick to the shell and they become dry. I also smell them to make sure they are not mouldy, especially near the end of the season.

[Foodie Lianne]

Sounds like an impossible task. Thankfully, we have them here (KL) all year round.

[Joe]

I buy them shelled in jars.

[charlotte]

Hummmmm fresh chestnuts !!!
here is my family's traditional recipe (excuse my english!)
I recommand, to roast them in the oven, after making a cross on their back, on the "lèchefrite" directly, or a large baking dish in iron; then serve with fresh salted butter (better: à la fleur de sel!); for a perfect deligh drink on those some apple cider (traditional *cidre de Bretagne* would be the best, or something like that if you can find). Open the chestnuts, burning your fingers, and put a little butter, melting on top of it... I thing this is the simpliest, most perfect delight. Enjoy!!!! charlotte

[PJ]

Years back when I was in OH, a (Thai) friend of mine asked me to save ground coffee that was already brewed for him. I found out later that he put the coffee in a pot and put that up on the stove with low heat. Then, he cooked chestnuts in that pot. It took a really long time but it came out well.

[dan]

my grandmother and i like to soak the chestnuts in room temperature water for about 20-30 minutes prior to roasting. after soaking, making a horizontal slit on the flat belly of the chestnut really helps opening them up after you roast. we rarely lose a chestnut doing it this way, but reading everyone else's systems (like freezing? so cool...) makes it seem like there are plenty ways to try! good luck and let us know how it turns out!

after you roast them, a chestnut and porcini mushroom soup should be on order - best thing of thanksgiving, in my opinion! especially since you'll probably have a ton of chestnuts to use!

[G. Mokarakorn]

I miss those Yaowarat roasted chestnut. They have to be eaten warm.

[G. Mokarakorn]

I miss those Yaowarat roasted chestnut. They have to be eaten warm.

[Charlie]

I'd just like to say thank you to this website and the commenters. I've just made a rather delicious salmi of partridge (which my wife had shot and brought home a brace of) with roasted chestnuts. I wouldn't have been able to roast and peel those chestnuts without your help.

By the way, I crossed them all (very deeply) with a cleaver, and roasted them for half an hour in a 200C oven in a deep baking tray with another baking tray on top to minimise the problems with explosions.

Thank you all.

[Chubbypanda]

I roast them over high heat in a wok filled with rock salt. The salt seasons the nuts, helps properly distribute the heat, and is reusable. I got the idea from a Martha Stewart recipe (yeah, I know). I use a Chinese cleaver to nick the base of the nuts. You need to make sure the nick is deep.

[Norlinda]

When I was living in Asian, I loved those giant wok chestnut roasters. I love the smell, and the chestnuts taste so much better than just roasting them in the oven. Why don't they do that here in N America?

[chickencordonblog]

No idea how to roast chestnuts. But reading the way they do them in Thailand reminds me one of my favorite little stories. When I was 13 I went on a tour of SEA with my dad, starting in Beijing, ending in Bali, and stopping in KL and Singapore along the way. We went on a bike ride one day in Beijing and pulled over, about 2 miles from Tienamin Square to grab a spot of street food. I remember passing a cart with two men, one with a big pot, the other with a big wok. As we passed I peered in the wok. It was full of .... LITTLE BLACK PEBBLES! I couldn't figure out what the heck they were so I hopped off to check it out. I walked up to the cart, and motioned to the wok. The guy managing it looked at me and smiled. Then he made a gesture of tossing-into-the-mouth. I noticed at this moment how red and powerful his hands looked, but I didn't really take the time to realize why. I smiled and gestured back, pointing eagerly, some mutant sign language for "let me try!"
He did!
He reached into the wok, scooped up a handful of what I thought were little black seeds, and ginger poured them in my naked little hands.

So yes, they were searing hot pebbles. They scorched my little palms. Laughing hardily, this seemingly generous street vendor suggested fervently that I toss the "seeds" in my mouth.

Now logically, anything that was hot enough to burn a hand is hot enough to burn a tongue, but I had to get it out of my hands! So I tossed 'em back like a jello shot, and chewed. BOY THOSE SEEDS WERE HARD! I had burn blisters all over my hands, and my tongue was ultra sensitive when we went out for sechzuan that night.

And so up until today I'd been wondering what the hell those pebbles were for. But now that I know, I think I'll hold out for the chestnuts! Any way, altogether it makes me realize that maybe the way to go on this chestnut project is to blanch them first, then go to the wok-full of hot pebbles? Just a thought. but Either way, I'd take it outside. I don't think oven roasting is the way to go. Stick with tradition, it's there for a reason. Hope that works out, and at least I hope you enjoy the story!

[idlehouse]

I tried roasting chestnuts again today following the many tips your readers gave... I still suck at it :(

[banu]

dear pim, very common on the streets here in Turkey, during the winter on every corner u can see chestnut sellers yelling "kebab here!".
receipt easy: first cross each and every one on their "belly" with a 2 mm deep cut, then soak in the tap water and leave about an hour. your kebabs are ready to grill!

[Eddie]

Hi Pim,
I’m in the midst of chestnut heaven right now, I live in Portugal and we’re pretty nuts about Chestnut. We too have vendors every where selling these roasted morsels and to make them at home we have a few options. At home to fix my frequent cravings like the one I’m having now, we use a ‘holed bottom pan’ that goes on a gas stove and works quite nicely.

The trick is really two sided -- it’s in the roaster and the temperature. Oven and stove options won’t come out exactly like the street vendors but they’ll get close. If you can find a holed bottom pan you can use on a BBQ, I think you’ll get really close.

For temperature - so they’re nice and soft inside…cook them medium low, too hot and the shells will burn quickly, too low and they get dry. Also, there are multiple varieties of chestnuts, when your picking them at the market, make sure there is no air under the shell and no lumps or pin holes, they should be very solid. Once home, cook them as soon as possible, from the sounds of it you’re going to make them disappear pretty quick so that shouldn’t be an issue.

Find a good roaster... you might be able to find them in special Portuguese or Italian shops in your area. If not, let me know, I'll be more than happy to ship you one.
A few days ago, I did a post on "how-to roast chestnuts"...you can check it out here

[D]

My mom just sent me some yummy chestnuts from italy.One exploded!apparently if the cross cut it's not done well enough it will happend,as for the skin i just read it can be they are either not cooked or too cooked.Not a big deal,but i did find tons of moldy ones

[Kim Bayer]

We were able to get fresh chestnuts at our farmer's market this fall and I was determined that we would replicate the ones we had on the streets of Paris. I wrote a little post about our experience with first exploding them in the microwave, then ultimately finding chestnut nirvana.

http://thefarmersmarketer.com/farmers_marketing_october_2.html

Here are the secret steps:
- Cutting of the X's - crucial to keeping them and yourself intact during cooking - on the more rounded side seemed to work better for the cooking process.
- Use one of those handy grill baskets, with the holes in it like you can get at Target.
- Put the chestnuts in basket in a gas grill heated to 375º-400º. - Stir every 2-3 minutes for about 12 minutes, or until done.
- When they are cooked completely the shells are brittle and peel back a little from the nut inside. The chestnuts themselves are a bit crumbly, starchy, and soft-ish. Not crunchy on the outside (overdone) or in the middle (underdone).
- Peel while warm and enjoy!

:) kim aka the farmer's marketer