Dadachamame beans だだちゃ豆

Dadachamame soybeans, Shonai region’s special variety of edamame, exude a delightful roasted aroma when boiled, and as they touch your taste buds, they unveil their sweetness and umami. These beans have gained nationwide recognition and even featured in a commercial by a well-known beer company, establishing themselves as the finest edamame produced in Tsuruoka.

What makes Dadachamame truly special is their distinctive fragrance and the deepening sweetness that intensifies with every chew – making them the undisputed “King of the Edamame”. There’s a wide range of varieties within this lineage, with early harvest varieties hitting the market around mid-July and the peak season arriving shortly after the Obon Festival, extending through mid-September.

Dadachamame are notably finicky edamame; even when grown from the same seed in other regions, their unique characteristics tend to disappear, an idiosyncrasy well-suited to the local conditions of Tsuruoka.

The term “Dadacha” in the local dialect of Shonai means “father” or “dad” (“mame” meaning “bean”). Legend has it that the lord of the Shonai Domain, who had a fondness for edamame, would ask where each batch of edamame came from and declared, “Whose dad has grown this edamame I’m eating today?” Over time, this led to the nickname “Dadachamame.”

Dadachamame are recognized by their brown fuzz and deep indentation in the pods. When boiled, they release a unique aroma reminiscent of corn, and their flavor deepens and becomes more delicious with every bite. It is said that even if the same seeds are cultivated in other regions, the specific umami of Dadachamame tends to disappear.

People like to boil them for a few minutes with a pinch of salt, to eat them cold with a fresh pint of beer.