Ffumami

While cowpeas are commonly called Sasage (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Japan, Ffumami is a legume plant produced by the indigenous community of Ryukyus / Lewchews and is a native variety of the Miyako Island of Okinawa, Japan. The black ones are called "Ffu" (meaning black in the Miyako language), and the red ones are called "aka" (meaning red). Mami means beans in Miyako. Ffumami has not been used as a substitute for red beans but is also called black azuki. Its height reaches up to 2–3 m with a black seed coat colour or medium red. The crop is sown in March, after the sugarcane harvesting season (December to March). It can be harvested before the summer planting of sugarcane (July–September). Black and azuki beans, which grow bigger than Ffumami and Akamami, were brought from outside the prefecture, and conversion was made to Ffumami and Akamami, which have smaller grains.
Ffumami is extremely nutritious, especially rich in anthocyanin, which is found in blueberries, and has a soft and sweet taste. In local communities, it has been used as an ingredient in local food culture for celebrations for the harvest moon.
Hukyagi /Huchagi is a traditional food that is made by covering mochi (rice cake) with Ffumami. Mochi can be made by boiling roughly ground sorghum mixed with rice flour, which is formed into a flat, round shape. Ffumami needs to be boiled and salted for its preparation. However, Amagashi is a sweet made with Ffumami and brown sugar, and Zenzai is a sweet made by boiling barley and Ffumami in brown sugar. Harvesting and preparation of Ffumami and Akamami are the most labor-intensive operations. This makes it difficult to expand the cultivation area. In the Miyako Islands, various strains of Ffumami and Akamami are maintained by farmers, leading to the inheritance of traditional foods. On the other hand, these are sold at farmers’ markets mixed with black kidney bean (kuromame), which is imported from Taiwan, and are often confused not only by consumers but also by producers.
Particularly, the cultivation of the red strain (Akamami) is most in danger of disappearing due to its small production volume.