Finally, a rice for vegetaria… Hey, wait a minute.

Soybeans never cease to amaze with their versatility, resulting in such wonders as soy milk, soy meat, tofu, miso, and even natto for those who enjoy punishing themselves. With its high protein content it’s also a great supplement for those who forego meat in their diet.

As the final product can vary greatly, soy seems fearless in its attempt to replicate other existing foods, and now it’s ready to really take on a big dog of Asian cuisine. Major Japanese bean-monger Fujicco has announced the development of a rice substitute made from soybeans which they call “daizu rice” which literally means “soy rice” in English.

The similarities with real rice only go about as far as appearances though. Fujicco designed it to have a subtle sweetness in the neighborhood of rice, but with the general flavor of soybeans. Also, while rice is high in carbs and low in protein, soy is quite the opposite.

This is the point that has made this development very popular with the weight-conscious in preliminary market research. However, to see more about how this soy rice goes over with the general public, Fujicco launched a crowdfunding campaign on 26 January, offering a sneak-taste of daizu rice. It looks like it went over quite well too, because only about a day after launching, they handily smashed their stated goal of 500,000 yen (US$4,800). Those who pledged will receive a set of five frozen dishes containing daizu rice which in addition to the plain version seen above, include the following.

▼ Black sesame inari sushi

▼ Ume inari sushi

▼ Phat kaphrao

▼ Tom yam

It’s a good idea since people might not know what to do with this never-before-seen product in terms of serving. After sampling the pre-made dishes, they can then try to invent their own daizu rice masterpiece.

For those of us who weren’t lucky enough to get in on the crowdfunding ground floor, daizu rice looks like it will get a wider release a little later this year, as Fujicco’s newest brand Beanus! This name is the natural result of combining “beans” and “us,” or in other words: Bean + us = Beanus.

▼ C’mon baby, bean with us.

And you know what? I like idea of this product so much that I’m not even going to make fun of that name… I’m just going to say it’s a good thing this rice isn’t made of peas, and that’s it.

Source: PR Times, Campfire, Beanus, Netlab
Images: PR Times
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