I remember the first time I tried edamame, Japanese style soybeans, was at a sushi restaurant with my sister. She had recently discovered a love for sushi. While I love my sister I still do not really love sushi and look for veggie options most times. I saw the edamame and thought they would be a good bet, but I had no idea how to eat them, and my sister didn’t either since she was decidedly in the raw fish camp. So I chowed down, pod and all thinking “this really isn’t that great.”
I have since learned how to eat them and now grow them and really the flavor can not be beat! I told Proeun, “imagine if this was our main snack food, how healthy we would be.” Having fresh soybeans is not possible all through the year though frozen can be pretty good. So I am so thankful that now is soybean season.
Soybeans being harvested by hand in our field.
We have also discovered a new way to eat them, seasoned.
Here I used the Chili Spiced seasoning, recipe below. Also included is the Curry spiced seasoning, both are excellent.
Chili Spiced Edamame
1 pound green beans in shell
1 TBSP coarse sea salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground cayenne
Rinse soybeans. Bring large pot of water to boil.
Add the soybeans still in the pods and boil for about 5 minutes, until the beans are tender and no longer taste raw.
In a serving boil combine salt, chili powder, garlic powder and cayenne and mix well. Add the beans. Toss with the spice mixture. Serve at room temp.
To eat, pop open the pod, bring the pod to your lips, and nibble the beans out of the pods, getting a little spice with it aw you lick your lips.
For Curry Spiced Edamame use
1 TBSP sea salt
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
Prepare as above.
Recipes from Serving Up the Harvest