2 cup rice
6 chestnuts
3 1/2 cup ; water
Directions
Korean chestnuts are the size of a small egg -- very large, solid and
sweet. It is astonishing in the autumn, the chestnut season, to see a
large heap of these giant chestnuts piled in pyramids in the public
marketplaces. In New York, during the Thanksgiving/Christmas season,
reasonably good chestnuts imported from Italy are available and make
a satisfactory substitute.
Prepare the chestnuts in this manner: Chestnuts that have been well
dried by leaving them at room temperature for a day or two are easier
to peel with a serrated knife. Sometimes the peel can be broken off
with your fingers. To remove the inner and outer skin, cut off about
half of the thick outer shell and drop the chestnuts in boiling
water. Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Drain, cool enough to
handle, then pull off both skins.
1. Rinse the rice in cold water and drain.
2. Peel the chestnuts of their outer brown skins and the inner,
thinner skin linings. Cut them into halves, if large, or leave them
whole if they are small.
3. Combine the rice, chestnuts and water, bring to a boil, then
reduce heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes. Stir once or twice
toward the end of the cooking. The water will have been absorbed and
the chestnuts softened.
Serve warm. Serves 6 at Korean meals.
Source: "The Korean Kitchen" by Copeland Marks
Servings: 6 servings
Bam Baap (Korean Chestnut Rice) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Korean; Nut; Rice; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
Written cooking instructions as a concept can be found far back into distant history, certainly as far back as the Egyptians, and maybe even further. In practice though, these, ancient cookbooks were just very simple pictorial recipes for preparing meals.
Fascinatingly, the oldest recipe found, according to academics are a few ancient tablets in ancient Sumerian which recount the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel `blissful`. As our culinary historical trip moves to more modern times we find two interesting books from the 1300s - a cookery book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another entitled `Curye on Inglish`. Despite their titles, they are nothing to do with the curry that is familiar to us all today, but instead recipes for the types of food prepared by the chefs of the rich and powerful of that period. In the 15th century, people returning from the crusades brought back many foods, spices and herbs from the East, including spices such as coriander, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new tastes was responsible for a surge in manuscripts on cooking, many of which are kept safe in private libraries. Over the following few centuries, the powerful and rich competed with each other to serve the best banquets, and as a result chefs and their recipes were at a premium. However, it was during the 1800s that formal cookery and recipe collections reached a high level of popularity. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, dedicated their lives to collating, testing, and recording the recipes of their peers. When we get to the 1900s, cookbooks are in high demand, due to increased literacy, leisure time and having more disposable income. The arrival of TV gave us cooking programs and the spin-off recipe books. Which brings us neatly up to date and the internet revolution, allowing us all to search through thousands of recipes like those on this site. |
We hope you enjoy this Bam Baap (Korean Chestnut Rice) recipe.
