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I’ve been getting into black food lately. By that I mean food that is black in colour.

It started when my Chinese Medicine doctor-in-training recommended sesame seeds. In Chinese medicine sesame seeds are moistening. My doctor mentioned that black sesame seeds were better for you than white. I’d seen white sesame seeds but I thought they were the only kind.

I went to the Minh Phat Chinese grocery store in Thierry St, next to the Victoria Market, and picked up a bag. I throw a teaspoon of them into my vegies and rice dishes.
You can also get pre-mixed sesame seed powder and sugar, that you pour boiling water over and leave it until it thickens. It’s a dessert apparently.

They also have black sesame snacks that are half sesame seeds and sugar. Yum.

Sesame seeds are best pulverised to maximise the absorption of nutrients, ie. tahini. Get organic unhulled for the best, or just unhulled if it’s easier.

I don’t think they make black tahini as black sesame seeds are bitter compared to the nutty mild white seeds. The seeds for tahini aren’t toasted. I wonder what it would be like…

So now I was on the trail of the black foods proper.

I had been using Lee Kum Kee black bean sauce (no pun), so I looked into black beans. As far as Chinese cuisine is concerned: black beans are black soy beans.
Re: Lee Kum Kee black bean sauce; this has 24% black beans, which is the most I have found. Other brands have 5 or 6%. It is very thick and rich. I only use about 1 tablespoon or 15g per serving. It tastes very nice.

But there is a black bean that is a relative of the kidney bean.
I got mine from an asian grocery convenience store on the corner of Franklin and Elizabeth Sts., Melbourne: $1.30 for 375g, so they’re pretty cheap.
Black beans are jet black and smaller than kidney beans. Usually dried, you soak them for at least 6 hours, preferably longer, and then cook them.
I simmer them in vegetable stock for about 90-120 minutes until they are soft. You can use more stock to make a soup, or less to make a thicker dhal type consistency.

To prevent flatulence you can ferment the beans as they soak by squeezing half a lemon per 100g of beans, or the equivalent in vinegar, into the water. This breaks down the indigestible parts of the bean that pass from the small intestine to the large intestine, and create gas.
You can also use carminative spices such as: cumin, coriander seed, fenugreek, and others.
Asafoetida is a stinky gum that comes in powdered form that is used in India as a carminative also.
I just bought some yesterday (Minh Phat again – that place has it all): $2 for 50g but you only need a very small pinch. The Hare Krishna’s use it a bit, so if you’ve been to one of their restaurants, you’ve had it already. It has a slightly onion/garlic character.

When you soak the beans you will see that the water becomes dark purple. Purple or red in foods are signs of lots of antioxidants and bioflavinoids. Eg. blueberries are so full of red they look purple, but if you get the juice on your hands it’s red.
Blueberries are little balls of vitality.

Next, I found black rice (Minh Phat). When you cook it, it becomes a dark purple. It has more nutrients compared to white and brown. It used to be for the Chinese Emperor and rich families only. But now we can all have some.

I haven’t tried black beans with black rice and black sesame seeds yet. Give me time.

See this Black Foods Article for more info.