[Recipe] Peanuts Are Delicious Simmered, Too: Let’s Make Soft, Sweet Simmered Peanuts

Hi, this is Omame-chan. Just like adzuki beans or hanamame (big, plump runner beans), peanuts are delicious when you simmer them sweet, too. In Chiba, Japan, some families simmer peanuts in place of kuromame, the sweet simmered black soybeans traditionally eaten at New Year. Peanuts aren’t just for crunching on! Who knew you could eat them like this? (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o))) It’s a real eye-opener. Why not make some for your grandma back in the countryside?  

Ingredients

・Shelled raw peanuts … 350 g ・Sugar … 245 g (70% of the peanut weight) ・Soy sauce … 1/2 tablespoon ・Water … 1 liter  

Directions

1. Give the peanuts a quick rinse, put them into 1 liter of boiling water, and leave them to soak overnight. 2. The next day, pour off the cloudy white water, then boil the peanuts again in 1 liter of fresh water for about 10 minutes and drain. ・After soaking overnight, the peanuts look like this. ↓ 3. Add just enough water to cover the peanuts, cook in a pressure cooker for 15 minutes, then let the pressure come down naturally. 4. Add the sugar and soy sauce, simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave until cool. 5. Once completely cool, simmer once more over low heat for 5 minutes, turn off the heat, and let sit for a day. The flavor soaks in as the peanuts cool, so from here on you can leave the cooking to time. And they’re done! Don’t they look delicious?

Afterword

I used these slightly larger raw Nakateyutaka (中手豊) peanuts so they’re easy to pick up with chopsticks. If you simmer them too long after adding the sugar, they turn hard, so keep the cooking time short and the heat low. The photos may look plain, but the taste is first-class. (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

*Raw peanuts cannot be shipped overseas.