Glossy 'Kurikinton' Chestnut Paste for the New Year's Feast

• 16 Sweet chestnuts in syrup
• 500 grams Sweet potato
• 1 Gardenia flower
• 80 ml Candied chestnut syrup
• 2 tbsp Mirin
• 100 grams Sugar (castor sugar)

1. Remove about 1 cm of the sweet potato skin, slice into rounds, then rinse in water.
2. This might seem slightly wasteful, but this is important.
3. Add the water and cracked gardenia seeds (it is good to put them into an empty tea bag for easy removal later), along with the sweet potatoes and boil over medium heat until softened.
4. Set aside the broth from Step 2.
5. Take it out of the pot, and use a hand mixer or a tea strainer to make it smooth.
6. You can also use a masher.
7. Return it to the pot, add in the syrup and sugar (use the leftover broth and/or syrup to alter the consistency if necessary), and boil down until it thickens and turns amber.
8. Remove it from the heat, gently stir so as not to crack the candied chestnuts, and it is done.
9. In my family, we sometimes loosen the paste with boiling water.
10. Place into your favorite bowl and enjoy.
11. Please refer to my New Year's feast from 2013..
12. For a two-toned purple potato and sweet potato kinton,.

sweet chestnuts, flower, syrup, mirin, sugar

Taken from cookpad.com/us/recipes/151080-glossy-kurikinton-chestnut-paste-for-the-new-years-feast (may not work)