Servings: 6
Kurikinton Mashed Sweet Potato 栗きんとん
This Japanese sweet potato with candied chestnuts is the perfect side dish for adding a sweet touch to any meal and for the New Year's feast!
Ingredients
- 2 Japanese purple sweet potato *1
- 1 jar sweetened chestnuts *2
- 1 Gardenia fruit *3
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 1/3 cup of the syrup from the jar of sweetened chestnuts
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Wash sweet potatoes and peel the purple skin thickly.
- Cut the potatoes into about 0.8 inch (2cm) thickness and soak them in a large bowl of water for about 15-20 minutes to remove the astringent taste.
- Separate the chestnuts and syrup and set aside.
- Drain the soaking water and place them into a pot with enough water to cover the sweet potatoes.
- Crush the gardenia fruit and put it in a tea bag (which you can get at Japanese one coin shop such as Daiso).
- Place the bag of crushed gardenia fruit or 1 tsp turmeric into the pot.
- Bring the water to boil over high heat, then turn it down to medium to simmer for about 20 minutes. Insert a skewer to test if the potato is cooked.
- When the sweet potato is cooked, remove the bag of gardenia fruit, drain the water and while the sweet potato is hot, strain the potato using a sieve with a wooden spatula.
- Place the strained sweet potato back into the cooking pot, with sugar, chestnuts syrup, mirin, and salt and cook over medium heat.
- Stir the mashed sweet potato continually avoiding the bottom of the pot burning.
- When the mixture has thickened slightly, turn the heat off.
- Add the chestnuts to the pot and coat them with mashed sweet potatoes.
- Leave the Kuri Kinton to cool down, then serve!
Notes
*1 weighing about 1 lb (500g) and when peeled 12oz (350g).
*2 Contains about 12 candied chestnuts.
*3 If you can not access this ingredient, substitute with 1 tsp turmeric like I did.
*4 Total cooking time does not include soaking sweet potatoes in water.
Nutrition
Calories: 121kcal, Carbohydrates: 30g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 392mg, Potassium: 229mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 17g, Vitamin A: 9222IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 20mg, Iron: 1mg