SnackBar
Spring pastels will soon flood the streets; the markets will be gorged with tender greens and the Technicolor fruits of the sun’s labor. The circus of colors opens with the drunken blush of spring shallots, the shock of magenta racing through the inner labyrinth of beets, and the slow climb of pale lavender up the alpine green stalks of slender asparagus. It’s hard not to be swept up by this explosion of sprightly hues, but what is color without contrast – like Abbott without Costello – so an obsession with deep, dark, inky foods has quietly taken root and is growing steadily with the prismatic approach of spring.
Black never goes out of season at the table nor in the pantry. A bottle of squid ink keeps for years without loosing its umami potency. A curl of pale aged cheese perched on a plate of silky black squid ink pasta is a minimal masterpiece. Black quinoa and black beluga lentils like dark pebbly riverbeds make a stark backdrop for vibrant veggies. Black foods aren’t just visually striking. Sometimes we don’t need to see the deep rich blackness to know it’s there. The inescapable fragrance of wrinkly black vanilla beans, the sweet gaminess of black cardamom, the sharp bitterness of black caraway, and the nutty crunch of black sesame make subtle but invaluable contributions to dishes around the globe. Fermented black beans and black garlic layers the sweet, the savory, and the pungent to take the palate to a new plane of existence. Black is primal; is deep space; is glossy black soybeans simmered in thick blackstrap molasses and dark brewed soy sauce.
If you have any comments, questions or other tasty (or morbid) tidbits, contact DuanDuan at SnackBar.Kitchen@gmail.com.
Simmered Black Soybeans
Ingredients
Black soybean, 1 cup
Soy sauce, 1 tablespoon
Blackstrap molasses, 1/4 cup
Sugar, 1/3 cup
Water, 3 cups
Method
- Bring all ingredients except the soybeans to a boil in a cast iron pot. Remove from heat. Add washed soybeans and let soak overnight.
- Next day: Bring to boil on high then reduce heat to simmer for 3-4 hours until beans are tender and toothsome. Add more water during the process if necessary.
- Once beans are at desired texture, strain liquid and reduce until thick and glossy.
- Pour inky liquid over shiny plump beans and chill overnight for best taste and texture.
