Ingredients

Black soy beans (黒豆 / Kuromame) 200 g
Water (水 / Mizu) 800 ml
Salt (塩/ Shio) 1 tsp
Soy sauce (醤油 / Shōyu) 1 1/2 tbsp
Konbu (昆布 / Konbu) 20 g (cut into 1-cm squares)
Black roasted sesame (黒炒り胡麻 / Kuro irigoma) 2 1/2 tbsp
Goji berries (クコの実 / Kuko no mi) 1 tbsp (softened in water)

How to Make

1. Add the water, salt, and soy sauce to a pot and bring the pot to a boil. Once the pot has reached a boil, turn of the heat and add the soy beans. Set the pot aside overnight.

2. Add the konbu to the pot. Bring the pot to a boil then reduce to low heat for 2-3 hours or until the beans become soft. As the beans are cooking, skim off any foam that forms on the surface of the water. Add water as necessary to keep the beans from burning.

 

3. With the konbu softened, the beans cooked, and a small amount of water remaining in the pot, turn off the heat. Mix in the sesame seeds.
4. Serve the beans with goji berries that have been softened in water.

 

 

 

Significance of Kuromame in Osechi Ryōri
Kuromame, or black soy beans, are an essential part of osechi ryōri. The color black, or kuro (黒), represents the tan color of someone working with great vigor under the sun. More generally, this can be taken as a wish for good health. Mame means bean (豆), but also, as a homonym, to be diligent and industrious in one’s work. Taken together, kuro and mame, then symbolize the wish for robust health and the ability to work with great efficiency and productivity.

Recipe Developed by Machiko Tateno