# Tamba black soybean rice ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

**Cuisine Name**: Tamba black soybean rice

**Region**: Our Regional Cuisines

## Main Lore Areas
Tamba Sasayama City

## Main Ingredients Used
Tamba black soybeans (dried), rice

## History, Origin, and Related Events
Black soybeans from Tamba Sasayama are said to be of the highest quality among black soybeans, with large grains and high sugar content due to the clayey, fertile soil of the region and the intense temperature difference between day and night. They are characterized by their large size, slightly sweet taste, and the skin is difficult to tear. Farmers cultivated black soybeans for shipping and for their own consumption using the paths in the rice paddies. The black soybeans are grown along these paths and those that could not be shipped were used to make snacks for children and a feast at rice planting time.The black soybean rice was offered to the god of rice paddies during the “sabiraki” (early opening of rice seedlings) ceremony (an event to pray for the growth of seedlings) held in June. Freshly cooked black soybean rice is rolled up like a rice ball, wrapped in a magnolia leaf, and offered to the altar. The fragrance of the magnolia leaves and chestnut trees repels insects, so the ritual is said to be a wish that the rice would grow without insects.

## Opportunities and Times of Eating Habits
In the old days, freshly cooked black soybean rice was rolled up and wrapped in a magnolia leaf and offered to the family altar and rice paddies during “sabiraki”, an event held in June to pray to the god of rice fields for the growth of rice seedlings. Although this custom is dying out, black bean rice is still cooked during rice planting, celebrations, and Buddhist memorial services.

## How to Eat
Soak the black soybeans in water overnight, then combine the soaking liquid and water to the normal level and let stand for at least 30 minutes. Just before cooking, mix salt and sake to taste, and cook the rice with the black soybeans on top. When the rice is done, the pigment of the black soybeans will dissolve into the rice, giving it a slightly purplish color. Alternatively, instead of soaking the black soybeans in water, you can fry them in an iron frying pan or place them on a heatproof plate and cook them in a microwave oven for about 3 minutes (the recommended cooking time is until the skin of the beans cracks and you can taste the aroma of one bean).The cooked black bean rice is sometimes mixed with vinegar and served as pink-colored black bean sushi. On special occasions, the rice is steamed white and eaten as “shiro-mushi” (white steamed rice).

## Efforts for Preservation and Succession
At elementary, junior high, and senior high schools, black soybeans are harvested for hands-on experience, black bean rice is cooked in nutrition education classes and is also served in school lunches. They are also served in school lunches.

## Ingredients
- Rice: 2 cups
- Black soybeans: 40g
- Dried plum: 1
- Sake: 2 tablespoons
- Water: To taste

## Recipe
1. 1. Dry-roast black soybeans over low heat until the surface wrinkles.
2. 2. Remove the seeds from the dried plums and chop them with a knife.
3. 3. Add the black beans, pickled plums, and sake to the washed rice, and cook with an appropriate amount of water.
4. 4. When the rice is finished cooking, break it into small pieces.

## Provider Information
provider : Recipe provided by: Hyogo Home Cooking Research Group (Makiko Katayose, Kaoru Sakamoto, Harumi Sakuta, Noriko Tanaka, Shinobu Tominaga, Kozue Nakatani, Tomoko Hara, Sawako Honda)

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