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Published on Just Bento(http://justbento.com)

By maki

Created 30 Jun 2009 - 10:09

Nimame( ), or stewed beans, are a standby item for bentos. They are usually rathersweet, though not dessert-level sweet, and serve the purpose of a hashi yasumeor chopstickrest (see anatomy of a Japanese meal [1]), a little something that contrasts in flavor and texturefrom the rest of the bento.

While it takes rather long to cook these, like most bean dishes, this is a terrific staple item. Thebeans keep for at least a week in the refrigerator, and freeze well in small batches too. Tuck in aspoonful in any bento for something a little sweet, a little salty, and good for you.

You can make nimame with any kind of dried beans, but here Ive specified white or navy beans,or haricot beans, which are widely available and inexpensive. You could use cannellini beansinstead.

Youll notice that the only remotely exotic ingredient used here is soy sauce, so anyone canmake this! Yes its still authentically Japanese. (Its another one of my moms recipes.)

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Recipe: Sweet stewed haricot, navy or white beans (Ingen no nimame)

200 g / about 7 oz. or 2 U.S. cups of dry white or navy or haricot beans50g / about 1/4 cup raw cane sugar or sucanat; you can use white sugar or your preferredartificial sugar substitute here1/2 tsp. baking soda ( juusou in Japanese)About 1 Tbs. soy sauceA drizzle of honey (optional)

Sort through the beans and take out any broken ones or small stones, etc. Rinse the beans andcover with plenty of water in a large pot or bowl. Leave for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Drain the soaking water away, and put the beans in a pot with fresh water to cover. Bring to aboil, then throw away the water. This gets rid of much of the surface scum on the beans. Rinsethe beans again, and fill the pot with more fresh water. Add the baking soda to the water. (Thebaking soda helps to make the beans more tender, but you can omit it.)

If youre cooking the beans conventionally, bring the beans to a boil, lower the heat, and cookfor about 40 minutes to an hour until the beans are firm but tender. You can tell when they are

tender by taking one out and eating it!

You can also use a crockpot or slow cooker in the same way, though it may take longer to cook.

If using a pressure cooker: Close the lid, and heat the pot until its up to pressure, then lowerthe heat and cook for about 5 minutes. Release the pressure until you can open the lid. (Followthe manufacturers instructions.)

Add the sugar to the pot, and simmer for about half an hour. This gives them that caramel color.Add the soy sauce and the honey, and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes. (You can addthese with the sugar if you want to save some steps, but the beans wont be as shiny and

burnished.)

Use a paper or aluminum foil otoshibuta

This is optional, but if you want really perfect beans, youll want to use a temporary lid made ofa piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil, crumpled up to fit right on top of the beans in thepot, with holes poked in it, for the second stage of the cooking process (when you add thesugar) onwards. This is called an otoshibuta(and the rationale for using it isexplained in this recipe for stewed eggplant [2].

Using undried fresh beans

If you can get a hold of undried fresh beans, you can use them instead of dried beans. Youdont need to soak them in advance. Here my mother is holding up a bunch of coco rouge, atype of fresh bean that is available in the markets in Provence from mid-summer to fall. (I believethey are borlotti beans or cranberry beans, or very close to them.) Yep, she really loves herbeans, which is why shes looking so happy! (Well that and the sun, weather, and wholevacation thing.)

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[3]

recipe Time required: more than an hour beans japanese johbisai sides staplesvegan vegetarian

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Source URL: http://justbento.com/handbook/johbisai/nimame-stewed-sweet-beans

Links:

[1] http://justhungry.com/2006/08/the_anatomy_of_a_japanese_meal.html

[2] http://www.justhungry.com/japanese-country-style-stewed-eggplant-nasu-no-inakani

[3] http://www.flickr.com/photos/makiwi/3674947770/

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