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“Edamame, but not as you know it.” In recent years, edamame have become a pretty trendy food in the western world. Here in Japan, though, the humble soybeans have been a mainstream, even blue-collar snack for generations.

So our Japanese-language reporter Udonko was a little surprised when she was strolling around downtown Kyoto’s Sanjo Meitengai shopping arcade and came across an a fashionable-looking specialty takeout shop dedicated to all sorts of uniquely flavored edamame . “Edamame, but not as you know it,” promises the sign in front of Spice Up Edama・Meee , whose last syllable is pronounced like the long-E English word “me,” as opposed to the Japanese pronunciation of edamame. Having opened in October, Spice Up Edama・Meee bills itself as Japan’s first flavored edamame specialty shop .



Edamame are traditionally eaten as a snack either at home or in an izakaya (Japanese pub). Spice Up Edama・Meee, though, turns them into an on-the-go street food, and serves them in paper cartons with a little pocket at the back for you to put the inedible shell pods in after you pop the beans into your mouth. In Japan, edamame are pretty much always boiled and given just a dash of salt before eating.

Spice Up Edama・Meee, though, goes avant-garde with its seasonings, offering olive oil and chili pepper, butter soy, wasabi, ume (Japanese plum), and butter soy edamame, among other others . Oh, and there’s one more way Spice Up Edama・Meee’s are “edamame, but not.

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