Kuromame-ni (Sweet Simmered Black Soybeans)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 780 min
- Level
- Hard
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 7
About this dish
Kuromame-ni is Kyoto's sweet simmered black soybean dish, especially associated with large, richly flavored Tamba beans.
Read more
The beans soak for four to five hours in a cooled syrup of sugar, soy sauce, and salt, then cook under a drop lid over very low heat for eight hours. Gentle, steady heat and keeping every bean submerged prevent split skins and wrinkles, producing plump beans with a glossy black finish. A purpose-made food-safe iron cooking piece can deepen and stabilize the color. Kuromame are indispensable in New Year osechi: their name evokes the wish to live diligently, while their dark color and enduring bean symbolize health and longevity. The dish is also eaten throughout the year.
Ingredients
As an Amazon Associate, we may earn from qualifying purchases.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Step
Rinse the black soybeans quickly and drain.
Remove split or damaged beans and stones without rubbing off the skins.
- 2Season
In a large heavy pot, combine 2400 ml water, sugar, soy sauce, salt, and a washed food-safe iron cooking piece.
Bring to a boil, stirring, then turn off the heat.
- 3Step
Cool the syrup fully to room temperature, then add the beans.
Place a drop lid so they remain submerged and soak for 4 to 5 hours.
- 4Control
Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce to low.
Skim the foam with a ladle without stirring the beans.
- 5Heat
When it returns to a boil, pour 100 ml additional water down the side and replace the drop lid.
Cook 8 hours at the lowest heat, with barely any surface movement.
- 6Heat
If liquid falls, add a little boiling water so the beans always stay submerged.
When a bean crushes easily between the fingers, turn off heat and cool completely in the syrup.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Black soybeans soak fully in cooled sweet seasoning liquid.
- Finish cue
- If liquid falls, add a little boiling water so the beans always stay submerged.
- Storage and reheating
- When a bean crushes easily between the fingers, turn off heat and cool completely in the syrup.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official cooking and food safety guidance.
This recipe
780min, 7 ingredients
Category median
48min, 8 ingredients
Based on 247 recipes