Soft simmered soybeans in a sweet soy-mirin glaze with a kick of chili, a festival-stall-style side dish turned into a warming bean pot.
Nimame -- beans simmered slowly in soy sauce, mirin, and sugar until they absorb a deep sweet-savory flavor -- is a staple of Japanese home cooking and osechi (New Year) spreads, most familiar in the black soybean version called kuromame. This version uses everyday dried soybeans or edamame beans and adds dried red chili for a sweet-heat contrast that's less traditional but very much in the spirit of festival-stall cooking, where vendors often punch up simple simmered dishes with extra spice. The technique is entirely about low, patient simmering: beans are soaked overnight, then simmered gently in a kombu dashi with soy sauce, mirin, and sugar added gradually so the skins don't toughen or split. A drop cover (otoshibuta) or a piece of parchment pressed directly onto the beans keeps them evenly coated without agitation, which is the traditional method for keeping simmered bean dishes from breaking apart. Served warm or at room temperature as a side dish, this bean pot keeps for days and actually improves as the beans continue to absorb the sweet, spiced syrup -- much like slow-simmered Japanese nimono dishes are designed to do.
Serves 6
Soak dried soybeans in plenty of water overnight, at least 8 hours, until roughly doubled in size. Drain.
Combine soaked beans, kombu, and water in a heavy pot. Bring to a boil, skim off foam, then reduce to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered 45 minutes until beans are nearly tender.
Discard the kombu once the beans are nearly tender -- it has already given up its flavor to the broth.
Add soy sauce, mirin, sugar, sake, and chilies. Adding sugar before soy sauce toughens beans, so keep this order. Press a piece of parchment directly onto the beans as a drop lid.
Simmer gently for 30-40 minutes more, until the beans are fully tender and the liquid has reduced to a light glaze coating them. Season with salt to taste.
Let the beans sit off heat for at least 15 minutes to absorb more sauce. Serve warm or room temperature, scattered with sesame seeds.
Add sugar before soy sauce in stages -- adding salt or soy too early makes bean skins tough and slows softening.
A drop lid (otoshibuta) or parchment pressed onto the surface keeps beans coated evenly without breaking them by stirring.
Deseed the chilies fully if you want warmth without real heat; leave seeds in for a sharper kick.
Use black soybeans (kuromame) for a traditional New Year's version, omitting the chili.
Swap soybeans for azuki beans and reduce the sugar for a more traditional sweet bean dish.
Add a knob of grated ginger with the seasonings for extra warmth.
Refrigerate in the cooking liquid in an airtight container up to 5 days -- the beans keep absorbing flavor. Reheat gently on the stovetop or eat cold as a side. Freezes well up to 2 months.
Simmered beans (nimame) have long been part of Japanese home cooking and are a fixture of osechi ryori, the New Year's feast, where black soybeans (kuromame) symbolize health and hard work -- 'mame' shares a sound with the word for diligence. Adding dried chili for heat is a modern home-cook liberty, more common at festival food stalls than in classical osechi presentations.
Yes, though the texture will be softer and less absorbent -- skip the soak and initial boil, and simmer canned, drained beans in the seasoned broth for about 20 minutes.
This usually means the beans were old or the soy sauce was added too early -- old dried beans can take much longer, and acidic or salty seasonings slow softening if added before the beans are already tender.
Not overwhelmingly -- two seeded dried chilies add warmth rather than intense heat. Add more or leave seeds in if you want it hotter.
Per serving (150g / 5.3 oz) · 6 servings total
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