Simmered Black Soybeans (黒豆の煮豆, Kuromame no Nimame)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart pot or donabe
• •Wooden drop-lid (otoshibuta), or a parchment circle with a small center hole
• •Cheesecloth or cotton pouch for the iron nail
• •Skimmer

Instructions

1. 1

   Sort and rinse

   Sort through the kuromame and discard cracked beans, stones, and papery bits. Rinse them in several changes of cool water, moving them with a light hand so the skins don't split before they even meet the pot. This is not fussiness; one broken bean clouds the syrup and several broken beans make the bowl look tired.

2. 2

   Make the syrup

   In a heavy pot large enough for the beans to swell, combine the water, sugar, shōyu, salt, baking soda, and wrapped iron. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then turn off the heat. The hot syrup dissolves the seasoning evenly, the baking soda helps older beans soften, and the iron gives the black skins something to hold onto.

   The iron is for color, not flavor. Use only clean uncoated iron that has been scrubbed and boiled, or a purpose-made iron egg; skip it rather than using coated, galvanized, or questionable metal.
3. 3

   Soak overnight

   Add the rinsed beans to the hot seasoned liquid, press a sheet of parchment directly on the surface, and cover the pot. Leave them to soak at room temperature for 10 to 12 hours. Soaking in the seasoned liquid lets the beans swell evenly and keeps them from meeting sweet-salty syrup as a shock after cooking.

4. 4

   Simmer quietly

   The next day, set the pot over medium-low heat and bring it slowly to a bare simmer. Skim off the gray foam as it rises. Lay an otoshibuta, or a parchment circle with a small center hole, directly on the beans, then set the pot lid slightly ajar. Keep the liquid only trembling for 4 to 5 hours, adding hot water whenever needed to keep the beans covered by at least 2 centimeters. Air wrinkles the skins; a hard boil splits them.

   Add hot water, not cold, if the level drops. Cold water tightens the skins just when you are asking them to soften.
5. 5

   Test the beans

   Lift out one bean and press it gently between your thumb and finger. It should crush smoothly, with no pale chalky core in the center. If it resists, cook another 30 minutes and test again. Old beans keep their own calendar, which is inconvenient but not a moral failing.

6. 6

   Cool in syrup

   Turn off the heat and leave the drop-lid in place until the beans cool completely in their cooking liquid, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight. This cooling time is when the seasoning settles in and the skins relax glossy instead of wrinkling. Remove the iron once the beans are cool, then store the beans submerged in their syrup.

7. 7

   Serve restrained

   Spoon a small mound of beans into a lacquer cup or shallow bowl with just enough syrup to shine around them. Add a red pickled chorogi if you're serving them for osechi. Serve chilled or at room temperature. These are sweet New Year beans, not a mountain to conquer, so leave the bowl room.

Chef Tips

• •Buy the best kuromame you can, ideally Tanba kuro daizu with large, even beans and unbroken skins. If the beans are old, no amount of scolding from the stove will make them tender on schedule.
• •Keep the beans submerged from soak to storage. Wrinkles usually come from exposure to air, not from some hidden failure of technique. The drop-lid is there to keep the surface calm and covered.
• •Don't cut the sugar sharply. Sugar is part of the gloss, texture, and keeping quality, not only sweetness. Reduce it a little if you must, but below about 180g for 300g beans the dish becomes something else.
• •The rusted nail is old kitchen chemistry. If you have a clean iron nail kept for cooking, use it; if not, a food-safe iron egg is the sensible stand-in. Without iron the beans may be dark brown rather than black, still honest and still good.

Advance Preparation

• •Kuromame are better made 1 to 3 days ahead. Resting in the syrup deepens the color, settles the sweetness, and gives the skins a calm gloss.
• •Store refrigerated for up to 5 days with the beans completely covered by syrup. Press parchment directly on the surface if the syrup level is shallow.
• •Freeze the beans in their syrup for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and serve at room temperature, without hard reheating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 115g)