Happy holidays🥰🙏✨
Documentation on Osechi (Japanese new year bento) item.
Each item has wishes & meanings, I try to cook to make those points stand out✨
Today introducing one of the must & signature items of Osechi- sweet “Kuro mame (black beans)” with a decorating idea🫘
Quick recipes of “Kuromame”(arranged to be easier) & Stories🫘
Soft & sweet kuro (black) mame(beans), takes around 3-4 days, so I always start my osechi project with these.
The most critical point, is that skin looks smooth, and it does not break (we call it “seppuku”-ed once skin breaks..) , while soft- we should be careful it doesn’t boil too much.
Kuromame wishes for one’s energetic, strong, and healthy life, and for good professional life.
The word “mame (beans)” has synonym meanings for “majime/ 真面目(diligence)” and “healthy” – wishing we can work hard until the skin is sunburnt as dark.
My grandmother used to put “Testu-tamago (“iron egg”), or stained metal nails, to make the color come out as black as possible.
- Boil 1l water, pour in the beans and stop heat. Let it rest for a night (No lid – don’t do anything).
- Next day- heat water (don’t boil too much, only until little little bubbles comes up). Take off any foams, and start adding sugar. Total of around 200g or so, but around 50g per several hours. Adding them all at once would break the skin (Osmotic pressure) Always make sure, beans are covered with water- add when you see less.
- Once the bean is softer & sweet, done✨ Keep with the syrup. Yummy😋
- When putting in bentos – I like to put it on pine leaves. Wipe syrup (the black color will dye on other food), penetrate with something pointy like toothpick, and let the pine go through the path.
🫘🫘🫘🫘🫘🫘
黒豆は手作りしてよかった、と思うおせち料理の一つです。
温めていただくのもまた大好きです。3-4日くらい前から作り始めるのですが、始終他の作業をしながらで火にかけるので、切腹してしまわないか本当に本当にひやひや。。。
案の定Ihコンロで何回か沸騰させてしまったのですが、築地でゲットした良いお豆だったので（？）、どうにかセーフでした😌笑
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