Kuromame means black beans in Japanese, and it indicateds simmered sweet black beans. The Japanese word for beans, mame, also means "working like a bee." So, people hope for being able to work in good health, eating kuromame on
Japanese New Year. It's preferable to simmer kuromame in iron pot or add rusty nails to blacken the color of the beans.
*Makes 4 servings
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Ingredients:
- 1 cup black beans
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp. soysauce
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- A couple of rusty nails, washed
- *A sheet of gauze
Preparation:
Wash black beans. Put water, sugar, salt, soysauce, and baking soda in large deep pot or iron pot. Bring to a boil. Stop the heat and add black beans. Leave it over night, or about 8 hours. Clean a couple of rusty nails, and wrap them by gauze. Add it in the pot. Put the pot on high heat and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low. Skim off any foam that rise to the surface. Cover the pot and simmer the beans on low heat for about 5 hours, or until beans are softened. When the liquid decreases, add some water. Stop the heat and let it sit until cool.
