Protected local food
Sayo Mochi Soybeans
佐用もち大豆
A large, sweet native soybean from Sayo town in Hyogo. Rich in protein, it turns chewy, almost like mochi, when cooked.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 8 May 2019
- Region
- Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 佐用もち大豆
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 兵庫県佐用郡佐用町
A chewy bean
Sayo mochi daizu is a local soybean rich in glycinin, a protein that makes it chewy and springy when cooked, hence mochi in the name. The beans are large, about 30 percent heavier than common varieties, and high in sugars, so they taste sweet. Soybean dealers rate them highly.
River sand and cold nights
Fields in Sayo, in the west of Hyogo, mix fertile soil with sand from the Chikusa River and drain well. From September, when the beans fill out, to the December harvest, nights are at least 10°C cooler than days, which helps the beans grow plump. Seed is grown in separate fields under strict control to keep the variety pure.
How to eat it
Simmer them sweet as nimame, or enjoy them in miso, tofu and kinako made from these beans.
Good to know
- Sayo is in the hills of western Hyogo, known for its night skies and the Nishi-Harima Astronomical Observatory.
- In Hyogo, also try Kobe beef and Awajishima Somen.
Questions travellers ask
Is it a mochi made of soybeans?
No. It is a soybean variety whose texture becomes chewy like mochi when cooked.
Where is it grown?
In Sayo town, western Hyogo Prefecture.
Where it comes from
More protected foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
- Ako: the town that made Japan's finest salt
- Awaji: the first island in Japan's creation myth
- Inaba and Tajima: landscapes made by the Sea of Japan wind
- Itami and Nada: the birthplace of Japan's clear sake
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage: Japan's 1,300-year journey of the heart
- Tamba-Sasayama: a castle town in a folk song
- The Kanmon Strait: retro ports on both shores
- The Silver Carriage Road: 73 km to Hyogo's mines
- The Six Ancient Kilns: pottery born and raised in Japan
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.