There weren’t many of them. Maybe six or eight pods in the tiny saucer in front of me. The setting (my first-ever sushi restaurant) and the simple, elegant Japanese porcelain saucer seemed exotic, but when I opened the bright green pods and popped the even brighter beans into my mouth, the flavor was distinctive, yet deliciously similar to the limas, peas and other fresh shell beans I’d been shelling and eating for years.
Edamame. Midwesterners have been surrounded by soybean fields for years, but it’s only recently that most of us have encountered them at the table while they’re still green, before they begin hardening and drying. Edamame might be new to Westerners, but in Asia they’ve been eating them for thousands of years. Technically, all soybeans are edamame, but the types of soybeans eaten as such have been developed specially to be eaten green.
Old Capitol Farmers Market vendor John Hamilton says he harvests them differently from other types of beans, which can be picked from the plants for several weeks: “They ripen all at once, so we just uproot the bushes and pluck off the beans.”
Edamame are as nutritious as they are delicious, a good source of complete protein, fiber, essential omega 3 fatty acids; and rich in calcium, iron, zinc, antioxidants, and B and K vitamins. In the pods, they’re a fun, easily made, and easyto-eat snack that requires minimal preparation.
Kids love them; keeping a bowlful in the fridge is a wonderful alternative for kids (and adults) to chips or other unwholesome munchies.
These days frozen edamame, shelled and in the pod, can be found at Food Fantasies, Little World Market and in many local groceries. And they make sporadic appearances at local farmers markets. Hamilton’s crop is finished for the year, because of the excessive heat. But Andy Heck and Garrick Veenstra should have some still available, with more to come next month. Local fresh edamame are usually smaller than their frozen counterparts, but are especially flavorful.
Great as edamame are for snacking, they have many other uses. Add some to a stir-fry, or in a salad. And don’t limit them to Asian dishes – they’re great in things ranging from pasta sauce to pilaf to a purée for bruschetta.
Contact Julianne Glatz at [email protected].
