new year's kuromame
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Kuromame are sweet black beans that you eat for New Year's for good luck. You are supposed to eat one bean for each year of your life. So if you are lucky and healthy, you could end up eating a lot of kuromame.
My mother and aunty do not make it from scratch, writing it off as "too much humbug and the canned one tastes just as good." After consulting with Aunty Google, I settled on a deceptively simple recipe that uses nothing more high tech than a crock pot. It's awesome and adds no stress to the more complex tornado of New Year's preparations/housecleaning. The original recipe printed in the Star Advertiser, but I adjusted the proportions, simplified the cooking time and added the finish sauce at the end. No wrinkles on the beans or my forehead makes for a successful recipe. |
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1 package of dried kuromame
(purchased at Marukai, about 2 cups) 4 cups of water Prep sauce 4 cups of water in a small sauce pan 1/3t baking soda 1 2/3 cup sugar (white) 1/3 cup shoyu (light, green label Kikkoman) 2/3T Hawaiian salt (eyeball it) |
Finish sauce
About 3 cups of the crock pot sauce 2 heaping spoonfuls of cornstarch 2-3 ladles of the crock pot sauce Kuri (chestnuts), either packaged or fresh (optional) |
Rinse the dried kuromame. Dump it into the crock pot with 4 cups of water
Put all ingredients for the prep sauce into a sauce pan. Heat until everything is dissolved and bring to just boiling. Do not let it go to a full boil or you might burn the shoyu and make it bitter.
Add sauce to the crock pot, give it a stir and then cook for 8 hours on low. Go shopping, clean your house, prep your other New Year's stuff.
Turn off after 8 hours. There will be a lot of liquid but no 'scum' on the top. This is a bonus. Use a slotted spoon to take out the beans and put them into a glass bowl.
Put about 3 cups of the hot crock pot sauce into a small pot. In a separate small mixing bowl, add the cornstarch and ladles of crock pot sauce (to make a slurry). Bring crock pot liquid to a full rolling boil and then add the cornstarch liquid to thicken it up. Add slowly so that the sauce is just thickened to about the consistency of melted ice cream.
Pour thickened sauce over the beans, making sure that the liquid just covers all the beans. Let sit for a bit. Right before serving, toss in some kuri to your liking and then serve.
If you make this a day ahead, cover with Saran Wrap, cool and then refrigerate. Then before serving, warm low and then serve
NOTES:
1. The texture of the beans was just right. An al dente bite.
2. The flavor of the beans is very, very light. This is why I added the finishing sauce.
3. If you can swing it, refrigerate over night, but not a requirement.
Put all ingredients for the prep sauce into a sauce pan. Heat until everything is dissolved and bring to just boiling. Do not let it go to a full boil or you might burn the shoyu and make it bitter.
Add sauce to the crock pot, give it a stir and then cook for 8 hours on low. Go shopping, clean your house, prep your other New Year's stuff.
Turn off after 8 hours. There will be a lot of liquid but no 'scum' on the top. This is a bonus. Use a slotted spoon to take out the beans and put them into a glass bowl.
Put about 3 cups of the hot crock pot sauce into a small pot. In a separate small mixing bowl, add the cornstarch and ladles of crock pot sauce (to make a slurry). Bring crock pot liquid to a full rolling boil and then add the cornstarch liquid to thicken it up. Add slowly so that the sauce is just thickened to about the consistency of melted ice cream.
Pour thickened sauce over the beans, making sure that the liquid just covers all the beans. Let sit for a bit. Right before serving, toss in some kuri to your liking and then serve.
If you make this a day ahead, cover with Saran Wrap, cool and then refrigerate. Then before serving, warm low and then serve
NOTES:
1. The texture of the beans was just right. An al dente bite.
2. The flavor of the beans is very, very light. This is why I added the finishing sauce.
3. If you can swing it, refrigerate over night, but not a requirement.