Another week has ended and another one has begun and here in Hokkaido the days are still still and the weather fair yet in just a few weeks the first of the ski resorts will open. It’s hard to believe that the landscape will be turned white by seemingly endless snowstorms. However autumn is drawing to close but is not over yet.

The other day I was lucky enough to try the traditional autumn dish ‘Kuri Gohan’ or Chestnut Rice. In typical Japanese style the dish was simplistic and delicately flavored. It is in fact quite simple to make, recipes vary but it is essentially just pre cooked Chestnuts added to rice in a rice cooker. I enjoyed the dish with a kind of steamed pork, pickles and miso soup, but Im sure Kuri Gohan would compliment almost any other Japanese dish such as the mouthwatering one shown below. Heres a recipe for  Chestnut rice in (delightful ‘engrish’)  and a number of other delicious traditional dishes.

http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~tomi-yasu/recipe/047_e.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/r/e1.html