🍚 Mame Gohan (Green Peas Rice)

Wakayama Prefecture is one of the top producer of green peas in Japan, and various kinds of green peas, like ‘Usui Endou', ‘Kinusaya Endou', ‘Holland Endou', ‘Snap Endou', etc., are grown in many areas in the prefecture (Inami-cho, Hidakagawa-cho, Minabe-cho, Gobo City, Mihama-cho, Yura-cho, etc.). Green pea has a long history, and it is said that green pea has been cultivated since ancient Greek Era in the world. In Mid-Edo Era, European variety for podded peas was introduced to Japan. ‘Usui Endou' started to be grown in Wakayama after that. In Meiji Era, the variety delivered from the US to Habikino City, Osaka, came to Wakayama, then the number of farmers growing the peas increased because mild weather is good for green peas. The cultivation technologies/skills have been improving thanks to farmer's efforts and directions from the prefecture, then current ‘Usui Endo' was born through breeding. The size of ‘Usui Endou' pea is big, and the pea has sweet taste and fluffy texture, and this pea is registered as a regional collective trademark ‘Kishu Usui' in 2006. ‘Mame Gohan' (=Green Peas Rice) is a local dish in the production areas of peas. In spring, people don't have much rice while green pea is in its harvest season, so people add lots of peas to rice to add volume. ‘Mame Gohan' is simply flavored with salt so that you can enjoy pea's original flavor. It's popular among children, too.