Chestnut-shaped 生菓子 made with こなし dough and filled with chestnut paste
こなし: Mix ingredients, and steam with high power on a moist cloth for 25'. Then work the dough a little bit in it's steaming cloth.
120 gr silky あん; cooked for about 2' in a pan to dry it out slightly.
9 gr flour (I used wheat and buckwheat, both seem fine)
3 gr glutinous rice flour (もちこ or 白玉粉, which needs sieving)
10 gr sugar
Original recipe says to fill with a mix of 45 gr 白あん and 60 gr chestnut paste; but I just used vermicellis dough and it was fine.
Here I added 10 ml of Cognac for 100 gr dough; but maybe it's simpler to add the Morellino here. A pinch of salt, as well; maybe some powdered black tea, as well
I'd love to hide a raisin or a hazelnut in the dough, but Miya said it'd be too much.
Hand syrup: 1 part sugar to 2 parts black tea (or just water)
For assembly, around 15 gr of filling and 20 gr of こなし, make a disk of the latter, wrap it around filling. Shape into a chestnut, and dip one part into (white, preferably) poppy seeds. Black seeds also work, but make it look a bit more goth 🤘
Keeps in the fridge 3 to 4 days, but becomes a bit chewy