Crock-Pot Sweet Black Soy Beans

This dish is served as part of the traditional New Year foods in Japan. It symbolizes good health and often served with other symbolic dishes. The goal of cooking this dish is to make the beans shiny and plump without wrinkles or tears on the outer skin. Presentation is important because you want every benefit the black beans can bring you for the new year. I shall rise to the challenge!

Black soy beans

Brown sugar from Okinawa, Japan

Soak in this mixture for 8 hours.

Skim off the scum.

Let Crock-Pot do the magic!

Crock-Pot Sweet Black Soy Beans

1 cup dry black soy beans
4 cups water
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar

Rinse dry beans in water gently. In a sauce pan, combine water, sugar, soy sauce and baking soda and warm to dissolve. After dissolving, turn off the heat and add washed beans in the liquid. Soak for 8 hours. After soaking, bring the beans in the liquid to a boil. Skim the scum off the top with a spoon. In Crock-Pot, empty out the content of the sauce pan and cook at the low setting for 3 hours. Serve at room temperature.

Shiny and plump.

They came out a bit harder than I like. Maybe the next time, I will soak the beans longer.

• Check out this post for a trick to soften the beans that have been already cooked.

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