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Braised black beans

Geomeun-kongjorim 검은콩조림

Braised black beans (geomeun-kongjorim) is a popular and easy side dish. Sweet and a little nutty, it goes well with beer, but usually we serve it with rice. Korean housewives make it on a regular basis and keep it in the fridge so it’s available any time, because children love it. There’s plenty of research that says black beans are good for you, but the main reason to make it is that it tastes delicious. You probably saw it for sale at the Korean grocery store premade, but now you can make it yourself!

Ingredients

Makes about 3 cups’ worth.


Directions

  1. After soaking for 10 hours, the beans will have expanded to about 3 cups. Drain the beans but keep the water that they were soaking in. Add the beans and 2½ cups of the bean soaked water (or just cold water) to a heavy bottomed pot.
  2. Cover and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. About 7 minutes into the cooking it will boil over with lots of foam on the surface. Skim off the foam and crack the lid halfway open. skim off foam
  3. Continue cooking the beans for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the beans are tender. Taste a sample and if it’s too chewy, add more water and cook longer until the beans are very soft.
  4. Add garlic, soy sauce, sugar, and vegetable oil. Stir a few times and turn down the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the beans are infused with the seasonings.
  5. Add the rice syrup and turn up the heat to medium high. Cook for another 10 minutes, occasionally stirring with a wooden spoon. At this point, the beans and seasoning sauce will get shiny and a little sticky. Don’t overcook and be sure to leave some of the seasoning sauce so that the beans are well coated.kongjorim cooked
  6. Remove from the heat and stir in sesame oil and sesame seeds. Serve as a side dish for rice or beer. You can refrigerate it for up to 1 month.

Geomeun-kongjorim

Posted on Tuesday, May 8th, 2018 at 4:45 am. Last updated on July 29, 2021.
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19 Comments:

  1. Karabasser Morocco joined 11/22 & has 2 comments
    Posted November 19th, 2022 at 7:36 pm | or create a profile.

    Maangchi, my wife and I don’t like sweet dishes – would these be OK without sugar?

  2. mnhi220 Vietnam joined 9/21 & has 1 comment
    Posted September 8th, 2021 at 4:42 pm | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi,
    Do I need to soak the beans in the fridge or just on the counter top is okay?
    Thank you so much for the recipe, I’m trying to eat less meat, so I really like savoury recipes using beans – they are so nutritious and tasty!

  3. Dylanjuschrr Washington, DC joined 8/21 & has 2 comments
    Posted August 28th, 2021 at 4:32 pm | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi, and readers!

    I was wondering if you could make this recipe in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker. I would think it means you don’t have to soak the beans, but I would love it if you had any advice.

    I’ve made this recipe once before the regular way and LOVED it, but I want to eat it tonight and don’t have 10 hours to soak beans.

    Thank you so much. Big fan here!

  4. vvcosta United States joined 6/16 & has 6 comments
    Posted March 6th, 2021 at 9:53 pm | or create a profile.

    I recently moved out by myself and wanted to make some side dishes that I could keep for a long time and still eat healthy. This one was perfect! I ended up using corn syrup instead of rice syrup but it still turned out delicious!


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  5. Christoph Sweden joined 11/20 & has 1 comment
    Posted November 20th, 2020 at 8:48 am | or create a profile.

    Hi,
    can you use black beans in Bibimbap?

    If so, do you prepare it the same way as here?

  6. lemons Chicago, IL, USA joined 3/20 & has 5 comments
    Posted July 22nd, 2020 at 7:46 pm | or create a profile.

    Dear Maangchi, thank you so much for the delicious recipe. I made this for dinner tonight, and although it came out a little less shiny than yours did, it’s still wonderful! I’ll try to do it better next time, when I can pick up some rice syrup. I had it with your oi-muchim recipe also, plus some leftover cabbage salad I had. So nice to sit out on the porch and eat!


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  7. Mochiandra The Hague joined 6/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted June 1st, 2018 at 7:42 pm | or create a profile.

    I am cooking them tomorrow. After putting in the fridge….should I eat them cold? Or should I warn them up in, the pan?

  8. sunnylightmode BC, Canada joined 2/17 & has 2 comments
    Posted May 18th, 2018 at 3:34 am | or create a profile.

    Great recipe!! I made a batch for my breakfasts this week and it kept me full and gave me lots of energy for school. I like how it’s quite sweet so it balances out other spicy/salty banchan really well. I also tossed some into my bibimbap for dinner and I even still have enough for next weeks breakfasts :D

  9. Lynnjamin New York joined 11/14 & has 31 comments
    Posted May 13th, 2018 at 12:16 am | or create a profile.

    Every time I tried to make these, the beans would taste uncooked. Now I know to soak them for TWELVE hours! Thank you so much!

  10. Cornelius B. Ecuador joined 12/17 & has 42 comments
    Posted May 12th, 2018 at 9:25 pm | or create a profile.

    Maangchi: I agree that you cannot eat money, but with money you can buy black beans (and other stuff) to eat… :)) Went shopping to my Korean grocery store in Quito yesterday (Seoul Market), and spent 60 bucks on ingredients…

  11. Unorthodoxpeach Georgia, usa joined 7/17 & has 2 comments
    Posted May 10th, 2018 at 6:26 pm | or create a profile.

    Made this although I couldn’t find the black beans with green kernels. It is so delicious 감사합니다


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  12. stonefly Olympia WA joined 11/11 & has 61 comments
    Posted May 8th, 2018 at 9:24 pm | or create a profile.

    Maangchi: It looks delicious! And you wore your black bean top to make black beans! Cute!

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