Kuri gohan (Mixed rice with chestnuts)

Ingredients (serves 4): 3 cups (19 oz/540g) uncooked Japanese rice 500g (1.1 lb) chestnuts (kuri) or 250g (0.5 lb) peeled chestnuts 2 tbsps sake 3.3 cups (22.3 floz/660 ml) water 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sesame seeds
Cooking Directions: 1. Place the rice in a bowl and pour over 3 cups (20.3 floz/600ml) of water. Drain the rice immediately.
2. Soak the rice in 1 1/2 cups (10.1 floz/300ml) water. Press the rice using a palm but remove sticking grains and drain the rice. Repeat this action three times until the water's milky color turns clear.
* When you rinse rice, keep the "kome-no-togijiru," the white water leftovers after washing the rice. As with dishes like buri-daikon, use the liquid to boil the Japanese radish in order to remove the vegetable's bitterness and to clear its color. Keep the thick milkycolored liquid obtained in the early steps of washing rice.
3. Cover the rice with water and leave for 30 minutes.
4. Peel the chestnuts. Insert the knife at the round part of the nut, and peel back the skin. Also remove the thinner skin inside the thick peel. (If time consumption is an issue here - peeled chestnuts are available and recommended) Wash the chestnuts.
5. Place the rice and chestnuts in a thick pan and add 3.3 cups (22.3 floz/660ml) of water and sake, and cover with a lid.
6. Place the pot over a high heat. When it comes to the boil, cook over a low heat for 7-10 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed. When the small air holes appear on the surface of the rice, warm the pot over a high heat for a further 1-2 minutes.
7. Remove the pot from the heat and leave to stand for 5-10 minutes to let the rice steam. As the rice is steaming do not remove the lid.
8. Serve the rice and chestnuts in a rice bowl.
9. Sprinkle the mixture of sesame seeds over the rice and salt to taste.
Tips: To produce good steamed rice, you don't have to buy a rice cooker. All you need is a pot with a lid. A thick pot is recommended but if unavailable, other pots are fine. As rice is harvested in autumn in Japan, Japanese people enjoy the best rice with other seasonal ingredients available only at this time of year. Please enjoy fresh mixed rice with chestnuts or mushrooms, the most delicious dishes in autumnal Japan.
Japanese Liquid Measures: 1 cup = 200ml = 6.76 fl oz 1 tablespoon = 15ml = 0.5 fl oz 1 teaspoon = 5ml = 0.16 fl oz