Dadacha-mame
だだちゃ豆

Dadacha Recipes

Edamame is usually served boiled and salted but when it comes to dadacha-mame, you will be amazed at the wide variety of the recipes that we can enjoy.

One of the most popular homemade foods using dadacha-mame in Tsuruoka would be dadacha rice which is a mixed rice that only uses dadacha-mame and several seasonings. You can take all the beans out from the pod shells and put them on top of the rice when you cook rice. Some people like to add soy sauce and sake, but some like to just add salt, and the recipes are slightly different depending on each family. (Tsuruoka Creative City of Gastronomy Promotion Committee, n.d.)

Since dadacha is famous for its sweetness, Tsuruoka city has been working on producing various kinds of dadacha sweets such as dadacha gelato, dadacha snacks, and dadacha ice cream. Those dadacha-mame sweets are available at many places in Tsuruoka city, especially during summer and you can try the best quality dadacha ice cream even at izakaya (Japanese style dining bar). Shinsui 心粋 , for example, is one of those bars in Tsuruoka serving dadacha-mame ice cream (the photo above). You can also try some dadacha-mame shaved ice cream (the photo above) at some cafe (Cafe Arx) in Tsuruoka. 

Now, it’s your turn to try Dadacha-mame!

     As it is mentioned above, dadacha-mame is a locally grown variety and its circulation is strictly managed by dadacha-mame liaison council (鶴岡地域だだちゃ豆生産者組織連絡協議会) which consists of farmer’s union, JA (Japan Agricultural Cooperatives) Tsuruoka, and Tsuruoka city government. There are 8 official brands of dadacha-mame which dadacha-mame liaison council acknowledges: (1) Komagi, (2) Wase Kanro, (3)Wase Shirayama, 

(4) Shirayama (Honmame), (5) Bansei Kanro, (6) Hirata, (7) Bansei Shirayama, and (8) Oura. They are in the order of the harvest and the first one, Komagi, generally starts to be harvested in the end of July and others follow in order and this dadacha season lasts until the middle of September. (Tsuruoka City, 2024)

The easiest way to get dadacha-mame is to go to sanchoku (farmers’ market) in Tsuruoka and it is recommended that you go there in the morning as most of the popular varieties like Shirayama might be sold out by noon (or even earlier). Even if you cannot visit the farmers’ market directly, you can also order it from the online website of JA Tsuruoka. The price greatly depends on the season and varieties, but it generally costs around 1000 yen per a bag of dadacha-mame.