Edamame: What is it? How do I cook with it?

The culinary world has discovered edamame, the Japanese name for fresh soybeans. These young pods of the soybean plant may have originated in eastern China and Manchuria. Not particularly popular in ancient times, Chinese emperors relegated edamame as food for the masses.¹ Innovative farmers domesticated varieties so successfully that travelers, soldiers, and even Buddhist monks adopted soybeans as their dietary staple, which helped spread them around the world.²

Smaller than a lima bean, edamame are jade green and plump. With a creamy texture and pleasant crunch, they have jumped over the vegetarian fence and enticed cooks to include them in other menu items. Although dry beans have more dietary fiber per serving than almost any other unprocessed food, 1/2 cup of edamame (boiled, drained, without salt) will provide 4 g fiber, 11 g protein, 130 mg calcium and 140 IU Vitamin A.³

Cooking with Edamame
It is best to buy fresh, green pods, but frozen edamame is available all year round at oriental food markets, health and natural food stores, and even supermarkets.

Remember, edamame must be simmered, steamed, microwaved, boiled or sautéed before eating. Try these suggestions:

• For the purist, edamame can be steamed or blanched, in or out of the pod, (just pop them out), and served with spicy sauces of soy, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and sambal (a spicy Thai pepper sauce) for a pleasant kick.
• Add edamame to soups during the last 10 minutes of simmering for a splash of color. They will cook in that time and remain a vivid green hue.
• Incorporate steamed edamame into fresh or root vegetable salads for extra crunch.
• Toss fettuccini with steamed edamame, vegetables, salmon, olives, garlic, basil and soybean (vegetable) oil, for extra protein, flavor and fiber.
• Edamame hold up well in cooked Jasmine or sticky rice. Brown rice serves as a great base for hearty legumes like edamame. Just fluff the cooked rice and add steamed edamame at the last minute.
• Oriental sticky rice can be rolled and stuffed with edamame as the crunchy center. Roll in toasted sesame seeds and serve with sesame/soy-based sauces, or smooth, reduced, vegetable purees, like red, yellow or purple pepper and wasabi.
• Substitute cooked edamame for lima beans in succotash for added protein.
• Use edamame in a shepherd’s pie rather than peas. They hold up better and contribute to satiety.
• Puréed edamame can be flavored with garlic, tahini and lemon, like hummus, and used as a dip with whole-wheat or sesame crackers, or vegetable crudités. Add a little lime juice to lighten the texture.

Chef Elaine R. Cwynar, M.Ed., is an associate professor and chef in the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., where she received her M.Ed. in culinary education. She teaches vegetarian cuisine, nutrition and sensory analysis, and sanitation management. Also, she conducts healthy food demonstrations for elementary and high school students.

REFERENCES
1) Kiple, Kenneth F., and Kriemhild Coneè Ornelas, eds. The Cambridge World History of Food, Volume 2, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000; 422.
2) Kiple and Ornelas, 423.
3) USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory. Available on-line at: www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/index. html.