Boiled Chestnuts
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Make a slight incision in the outer skin of each chestnut to prevent bursting.
Boil
Boil the chestnuts in plenty of water with salt for 30 to 60 minutes.
Check occasionally; when soft, drain and wipe with a coarse cloth.
Serve
Serve quickly in a hot napkin.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Chestnuts
- Starchy base that softens into a tender, mealy texture when boiled.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the chestnuts as they cook in the boiling water.
The step that matters
Incising the skin before boiling. Chestnut shells trap steam as the nut heats; without a slit, pressure builds and the shell can burst. The cut lets steam escape and keeps the nut intact.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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