Carotene lunch

Baked paprika, carotene powered.
I am not sure the body tells what it needs, but I wanted to eat this yellow orange color. I like thinking these food bring a lot of antioxidant β-carotene that I need now. Even if I’m wrong, I’ve eaten something good.

A yellow paprika and carrot *okara*. I made carrot juice, they are the grounds.

The filling is azuki beans, new onion, the carrot *okara*, turmeric, garlic, chili pepper, salt.

Baked. I’ve put a drizzle of olive oil on top. That favors vitamin absorption.

Today’s salad : chrysanthemum, young onion (salted, let 20 minutes, rinsed), parsley and ninniku no me (garlic stalks).

Dessert : citrus flavored torta di riso (see here).

A nice little three course meal, ready in few minute. The dessert was made a few days ago.

Kuromame bean is the new black

黒豆
This is a compilation about ideas to cook kuromame (black soy beans). First, you need to boil them, go to the end of this post for instructions.

SIDE DISH

As a side dish for :
kare raisu (Japanese curry)
Korean wind lunch
Rum vanilla apple black beans, in fragrant tortilla

WITH RICE

Rice and beans.

Black rice
Same recipe as seki-han, red rice (red rice), but with kuromame…

Salade de riz Méditerranée

BEAN BALLS

A variation to burger or croquette.

Tama (green lemon big bean ball)

Swedish bean balls
Dark green curry with bean balls

OTHERS :

Marron berry chunky terrine (France)

Feijoada with pig trotter (Brazil)

Enfrijoladas frescas (Mexico)

kuromame shiso empanadas

also in :
Japanese garden creamy Winter soup
four bean gumbo
‘lumaca’ soup

SWEET :

Recooked in a syrup of sugar and grated fresh ginger.

Sweetened with syrup of kurozato (black sugar). They are floating with black sesame on top a bowl of sweet potato okayu

PREPARATION OF DRIED BEANS :

Cooking them is quite long, that can take 3 or 4 hours, after soaking them 24 hours. The time is hard to “predict” as it depends on the size of beans and their age (this year’s crop, or older…).

Process :
-Anyway, rinse them and soak them. You can add baking soda or not (I don’t but Japanese water is not harsh).
-Bring them to boil, you use the soaking water or change. In the first case, color will be more vivid. Boil them at least 10 minutes and take away the foam on surface (the toxic substance of beans).
-Continue on low heat, in a crock pot if you want. Beans are cooked when they are soft.
I cook a batch of 250g without any flavoring, and I freeze most in cups (silicone cupcake molds) for further use.

Tip (that I don’t use) : to keep the color, you can add some nails or other iron objects that are rusted.

Japan’s most common recipe is to cook them with sugar (same weight as the beans) added from the soaking water, or from the low heat simmering… or like I do later. The sweet black beans are one item of the New Year good luck dishes. For savory recipes, you can add a piece of kombu seaweed in the water.

Cassoulet de la mer. Fish and beans.

Diet today ! This is the “fasting day” cassoulet. Oh, I can explain :
Cassoulet du vendredi

The dose of tomato was generous.

After a long while, these white beans get soft…

3 types of fish. Raw cod fish. Slightly salted salmon…

… and shishamo (Hokkaido eperlan) that are also salted and with eggs inside.

The fish and beans layered in the big cassoule (cassoulet pot)

Hot from the oven…

The turban of Hassan Pasha, veg’ baked keftas

Let’s go to old Orient for a funny yummy dinner…

Photo borrowed here.

This guy is Hassan Pasha, a 17th century Turkish prince. His hat inspired this recipe.

You recognize him ? Yes ? So next week, we’ll bake a lion…

It’s usually made with meat, and cheese, but my version is plant based, but I kept the base of 3 elements, a meatball (beanball), mashed potatoes and tomato sauce..

I made my keftas of cooked azuki red beans, minced onion, powdered sesame seeds, Chinese dark miso and a little potato starch as a binder. The spices are : lots of coriander seeds, paprika, a little cumin, black pepper and cinnamon.
Cooked potatoes are mashed, colored with turmeric, flavored with a little nutmeg and olive oil.
The sauce is tomato paste, water, olive oil, thyme, grated garlic and onion, salt.
Shape the keftas like nests, make a turban of potato, pour the sauce around and bake.

Baked ! I should have put more sauce.

As a side, avocado with wasabina tsukemono green pickle (see here).

Swedish mean balls

Oh they’ve done nothing bad. It’s just they are not made of meat so they needed a new name. And they’re served with Japanese greens. That’s still the Nordic and Swedish inspiration for flavors. As you know, I’m a bean maniac, so here is another delicious way to get my daily serving of great plant protein. It’s a vegan menu.

Double bean, onion and negi balls, baked 20 minutes.

I’ve used hanamame giant beans and black soy beans, both are mashed, mixed with minced onion and negi leek white, spice with Chinese miso, a little pasted sesame, thyme, laurel, nutmeg, pepper. For the binding some buckwheat flours. The greens are komatsuna.

A laurel and thyme flavored onion gravy with a little bit of oil and flour to start a small roux, very little, just for the color. I’ve let it simmer while the balls were baked and passed the mixer at the end to smooth it.

The balls and a few beans reheated in the gravy. I’ve added a little veg’ cream.

That’s how they look inside. A nice texture, a bit crunchy around.

The veggies are briefly stir-fried with just a little oil. No seasoning.

I had no cranberries or whatever similar preserve. So I’ve soaked prunes and mikan orange peel in strong hot tea, and after one hour, roughly mashed. That gives a Christmas mood jam, high in citrus flavor but not too sweet.

The veggies, the sauce, the balls, all together… Yummm…