Edamame

[SilverLining]

I came across a thing that said edamame is a healthier alternative for snacking instead of peanuts. (Well, for me it would be.  )

I searched a bit, and this is immature soybeans?

So, how would it be prepared? Would it be crunchy and can you eat it cold? Can it be prepared in bulk, and eat a bit at a time?  Is it good?

[nameless]

Edamame are just soybeans, green fresh soybeans. They can come in a pod, then you boil in salted water for 5-7 minutes, then you deshell and eat. SO YUMMEH! Use them in salads, just snacking, in rice dishes, places you'd use beans.

Sometimes you find them in the fresh food refrigerated section - already shelled. Usually in the frozen veg section. Buy the ones IN pods...frozen and shelled are always gross and slimy.

You can also buy them canned. You drain, dry, and roast in the oven until crunchy little delights. Like...a roasted peanut. I do mine in olive oil and salt. Various recipes around for roasted soybeans.

[becca]

We buy them frozen in the pods and boils,  then salt them a bit.  Then we snack on them from the pod. You bite them out of the pod and get some salt with the beans.

[SilverLining]

Thank you.

[Macabre]

We buy it still in pods most of the time (frozen) but don't have any problems with the frozen shelled ones being slimy. They are more useful in cooking (like salads) than the whole ones. The whoke ones are amazing for snacking or a side dish by thenselves. I keep them as a protein dish for dinner.

I have a funny story. When he was a toddler we used edamame a lot. It was fun to eat.   A few weeks before he started reading (or showing us he was readings) we were driving down a busy street near our house. He asked me how you spell edamame. Well a couple hundred feet in front of us was a rataurant named Edamame! So I said, "Just like that sign there. e-d-a-m-a-m-e." 

[SilverLining]

So you don't have to shell them?  You can eat them like green beans?  But not raw.

Would fresh be with bagged salad?  And are they usually bagged or loose?

Frozen with other frozen veggies?

Canned with other canned veggies?

[Jessica]

You don't want to eat the shells at all. Just the beans inside. I've only seen frozen around here-we buy Pictsweet brand (I would also trust Cascadian Farms) and it's in the regular frozen food aisle. Where my mom lives they sell it fresh. I've never seen it canned.

I'm lazy so I buy the kind that's already shelled.

eta: they can be eaten hot or cold. I like them cold.

[Macabre]

I've only seen frozen.

If we are using then in salads I buy them unshelled. If we are using them as a side dish we leave them shelled. When you get them shelled, you boil them and add salt. When they're done, drain the water, salt the some more and out then in a bowl with the shells on.

Scoop up a bunch to put on your plate and have a little bowl or bread plate for your shells near your dinner plate. These are basically finger food. You take one--unshelled--and put it in your mouth. Bite down a bit and pull on the shell, popping the beans out of the shrll and into your mouth. Set the Roth shell on your bread pkate and continue.

The salt works beautifully with them.

[hedgehog]

They cam be seasoned with other flavors beside salt.  Orange peel, red pepper flakes, etc.  But salt is a good place to start.

[GoingNuts]

They are super delicious, but definitely not a healthier alternative to PN for my DS, LOL. 

Which is why DH and I only eat them out. 

[PurpleCat]

Dry roasted and salted edamame - love those!  I eat them alone, on my salad, or make a version of trail mix.  DD is not allergic to soy so when nuts left our house, this became my go to salty snack.

I also like them cooked, I like them shelled and mixed in warm potato salad - yep weird...but so yummy!  They help me make up protein for cutting back on meat.

When I first tried them I did not know you don't eat the shell and I hated them.  Then I found a bag of frozen un-shelled and I was hooked!

[nameless]

The canned ones are rare - but are the ones you drain, dry, and roast to be like roasted peanuts. I think Edensoy has a canned brand, that I only ever find in a health store or whole foods or organic section of a store. They are expensive, and not worth it.

[Macabre]

Okay. That does it. I haven't had anything to eat today, so I grabbed one of the edamame bags from the freezer and put a pot of water on! 

Can't wait the ten minutes this process will take (takes a while to get water to boil on this stove).

[becca]

I have a bag at the bottom of my freeze that is old.  I think too old.  I look at it now and them and think, "It's too old."  I should just throw it away, huh?  I like them, this bag just got lost on the bottom of other stuff. 

[becca]

Lucia can show you how it is done!

Lucia eating edamame