Iri-kuromame gohan / steamed rice with toasted black soybeans

When something crunchy is wanted in steamed rice, how about toasted kuromame black soybeans? Kuromame's dark skin also adds nice color to the rice. Its deeper flavor than regular daizu soybeans is another benefit, ensuring tasty results without seasoning. I mix in some mochigome sweet rice, partly because the uruchimai regular rice I use is medium grain. If you use short-grain regular rice, which is more glutenous than medium-grain regular rice, adding mochigome is optional.

1/3 of recipe:
221 calories; 6.5 g protein; 2.3 g fat; 41.8 g carbohydrate; 39.9 g net carbs; 0 (0.4) mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 1.9 g fiber; 226 mg potassium

1/2 of recipe:
331 calories; 9.7 g protein; 3.4 g fat; 62.7 g carbohydrate; 59.9 g net carbs; 1 (0.6) mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 2.8 g fiber; 338 mg potassium


<Ingredients>

3/4 cup* (135 cc / 112.5 g) uruchimai regular rice
1/4 cup* (45 cc / 37.5 g) mochigome sweet rice
Approx. 190 cc water (not in photo)
30 g kuromame black soybeans
*1 rice cup = 180 cc

<Directions>
1.

Rinse regular and sweet rice, and add water to just below the 1-cup mark.
If cooking in a pot, use slightly less water than you normally do (sweet rice takes less water to cook than regular rice).

Soak 30+ minutes.

2.

Meanwhile, toast kuromame on medium low to low heat until skin splits and surface turns slightly golden, about 10 minutes.

When done, put into rice + water, and mix (soak with rice).

3.

Cook rice.
When done, wait 10 minutes, and gently turn.
Ready to serve.

<Notes>

• Toasted black sesame seeds are sprinkled in the top photo as per my preference.
• For stronger purplish color, partially replace either regular or sweet rice with murasakimai (purple sweet rice) or kuromai (black sweet rice). One tablespoon or so of these dark color types of rice per 1 cup of dry rice in total can result in a strong hue.