Yo, edamame

From side dishes

to garnishes, a

specialty soybean

is popping up on

menus all over

Packed with protein, edamame is an ideal foundation for stand-alone meatless
entrées, or to feature in popular rice/noodle bowls with meat, poultry or seafood.

by Deborah Grossman

 A Mexican cantina wouldn't be a cantina without bowls of salsa. And sushi bars own the signature rights to bowls of edamame, right?

Well, think again. You've probably encountered salsa on top of Thai swordfish and American meatloaf. Likewise, edamame is poised to pop out of its shell and onto mainstream dishes in restaurants everywhere.

If you already cook with avoca­do, peas or favas, then think edamame (pronounced "eh-duh­ MAH-may"). This versatile green vegetable lends itself to imaginative preparation and presentation. The media attention around the health benefits of soy-for both women and men-has brought edamame into the culinary lime­light. From hummus and guacamole to garnishes and sides, edamame is an appealing new addition to your menu.

"When I first saw shelled edamame, they reminded me of lima beans, which I hate," says Andrew Meek , chef/co-owner of Sage in Des Moines , Iowa . "I still don't like limas, but I sure like edamame."

The Chinese have enjoyed soy­beans since they were first cultivat­ed 5,000 years ago. The Japanese have eaten soybeans as a protein and staple, and edamame from the pod as a snack food, for hundreds of years.

    Americans first harvested soy­beans in the early 1800s, but not primarily as a food source. Soy foods are now only 3% of total U.S. soybean production; the vast majority are used in industrial and agricultural products from printing inks to animal feedstock.

            Edamame in the
                        Spotlight

A commercial blend of edamame, broccoli florets, julienned carrot, corn
and diced red pepper enhances an udon-noodle/vegetable bowl.

But today the focus is on soy-foods-and their newfound nutri­tional stardom. Edamame, also known as green vegetable soybean, is a specialty soybean, harvested when the seeds are immature and fill about 80% of the pod width. The Chinese call them "fuzzy beans" due to the pod's texture.  

Edamame, also known as "sweet soybeans" due to their slightly sweet, mild flavor, have a less "beany" taste than dried soy beans, and are more easily digested.

With a protein content of 38% and an abundance of phytochemicals, fresh-tasting edamame is loaded with isoflavones and antioxidants. Medical studies tout soyfoods' role in prevention of cardiovascular disease, cancers in women and men and osteoporosis.

If you open food- or health- oriented consumer magazines these days, you'll likely see recipes for edamame in stir-fries and salads. Stores of all description, from large chains to natural-foods specialties to discount warehouses, now stock frozen 1-pound bags of edamame shelled and in the pod, and gourmet sides such as soybeans in mushroom sauce and edamame in garden-blend veggie packages.

This adds up to customer familiarity with edamame in locales other than sushi bars.

U.S. growers are harvesting more edamame, the immature soybeans, currently only 1.5% of total  soyfoods  production. Mature soybeans are consumed as soy oil, soymilk, tofu, miso and textured  vegetable  protein. Soymilk, edamame and roasted soybeans are among the fastest growing soyfoods.

At Hope, Minn.-based SunRich Food Group, the largest domestic grower, sales of edamame doubled in the last two years. Both SunRich and Seapoint Farms of Huntington Beach, Calif., count foodservice as the fastest-growing market seg­ment for edamame. Both producers sell frozen, shelled beans in 20-or 24-pound boxes for foodservice.

Both companies plan new con­venience features for foodservice edamame. This summer, SunRich will offer a 5-pound ziplock bag, and Seapoint Farms will market long-blanched and salted, ready-to-serve edamame.

SunRich offers a domestic edamame, a small brightly colored green bean from a proprietary seed variety. Chinese edamame, like those sold by Seapoint Farms, are generally larger.

J.R. Simplot Food Group based in Boise , Idaho , recently intro­duced  IQF  edamame  and edamame/vegetable blends for foodservice; pack size is 2.5 pounds of Culinary Select product, and the blends (also under the Culinary Select label, in Midori, Kyoto and Imperial varieties) fea­ture vegetables and ingredients such as bowtie pasta, julienned carrot, broccoli florets and sugar snap peat.

       Popping up in the
                       Kitchen

Dana Jacobi is an author and cooking teacher who pops open the world of edamame to many chefs throughout the country.

"Edamame are a healthy addi­tion to any menu," says Jacobi . "But the biggest draw for chefs is how well they hold-and keep their bright color and al-dente tex­ture-for applications from salad and pasta bars to side dishes. Think of them as a vegetable, not Japanese food."

Jacobi likes to boil frozen shelled edamame for a few min­utes to heighten their sweetness, and always salts them liberally. Because all frozen edamame are pre-blanched, some growers and chefs report that shelled edamame are ready to eat after defrosting, while others steam or blanch from 30 seconds to several minutes. Cooking time varies with size and variety of edamame.

Jacobi encourages chefs to try edamame fresh in the summer months, with the roots on to ensure freshness. Her favorite uses, highlighted in her book, Amazing Soy (HarperCollins, 2001), include appetizers such as pâté, low-fat "edamole" (with just a dollop of added avocado), stir-fries and Native American dishes such as succotash.

Because most domestic soy­beans are grown in the heartland states, one might expect Midwest­ern restaurants to spearhead place­ment of edamame on menus. But only recently have chefs begun to think beyond the edamame bowl associated with sushi bars.

Meek of Sage had his first culi­nary exposure to edamame last fall. "I was very skeptical about cooking with them, as I'd not encountered edamame in my French training. But I love the bright color and sweet taste.

To showcase their color and texture,  Meek  designed  an edamame/sweet-potato ragoût: He processes edamame, shallots, salt and white pepper with a small amount of avocado (for binding) and purées roasted golden yam. For added eye appeal, he folds in whole edamame and cubes of potato into each purée and layers the green and orange vegetable into a circular mold. He then fans slices of marinated New York strip steak around the ragoût.

       Color the menu
                   Healthy green

A growing number of teenage and college students are vegetarians. Sensitive to this trend, Cam Howard, culinary director at Vanderbilt University , Nashville , Tenn. , now serves shelled edamame at the stir-fry station available at dinner. The healthy attributes of edamame are a natural fit for Heartbeat at the W hotel in New York . Chef Michel Nischan serves two warm bowls of edamame pods to every table, and uses them in place of fava or lima beans.

But, Nischan adds, "They're not suited for cassoulets or dishes that rely on long-cooked starch." With Heartbeat’s concept based on natural, fresh foods, Nischan likes to use fresh edamame in season, but is very satisfied with frozen.

While growing up in Bombay , India , chef Floyd Cardoz never saw edamame. But since tasting edamame in the United States , he's incorporated it into his Indian cuisine at Tabla in New York . Car­doz stirs edamame into vegetable fricassee seasoned with mustard seed and cumin. He also brightens lentil soup with edamame in the last few minutes of cooking.

Diners in the Pacific Northwest are generally very health con­scious, says Adam Sappington , chef at Portland 's Wildwood Restaurant. "People are willing to try edamame, especially as a small­er first course. I'm introducing it slowly now, and will serve it as an entree in the future."

Sappington incorporates pureed edamame and arugula into a "spring green risotto" served with miner's lettuce, mezzuna and arugu­Ia. He also creates an edamame salad with chioggia and red beets, shaved red onion, watercress and Meyer-lemon segments in a Meyer-lemon/champagne vinaigrette.

After blanching frozen edamame for 20 seconds, Sappington does not follow with an ice-water bath, which, he says, changes the structure of the bean. Because most of the staff were unfamiliar with the vegetable, he tasted the dish with them and explained the health aspects.

At Wildwood, where local ingredients are the byword, Sap­pington encourages nearby farmers to grow edamame.

In Northern California , the farmers are ahead of the curve. A grower brought a bunch of edamame to executive chef Ron Siegel at four-star-rated Masa's in San Francisco along with his regu­lar produce order, and asked if he would like to try it.

"I'd never thought of using edamame at a restaurant like Masa's," Siegel says. "I'd only eaten them myself about two years ago. Edamame from the pod are so consistent — they all look perfect, unlike favas, where the size is so inconsistent."

Siegel likes to add an edamame note to canapés and appetizers. After a quick blanche in the pod, he pops them from the shell, warms them slightly in butter and adds to a ponzu base for toro (fatty tuna) or layers them under­neath sautéed shrimp with a sweet-and-sour sauce.

Edamame remains a hot item at Japanese restaurants. But even here, chefs dream up new twists for the ancient favorite. At Chaya Brasserie in San Francisco , execu­tive chef Shigefumi Tachibe serves seared day-boat scallops with prosciutto, Yukon-gold-potato gnoc­chi and edamame and finishes the dish with truffle/sherry vinaigrette.

This presentation, notes Tachibe, is a long journey for edamame from the traditional snack food in the pod, commonly served in Japan .

From college students hungry for vegetarian options to diners in their 20s and 30s familiar with sushi-bar edamame service, from baby boomers looking for heart-healthy menu options to foodser­vice in retirement communities, edamame is a welcome addition to menus.

And for chefs, Siegel characterizes edamame's allure: "Chefs are always looking for a new product. Year after year, asparagus will be available in the spring. We may change technique on cooking asparagus. But we are always look­ing for that attractive, new veg­etable. Edamame fits the bill."

Deborah Grossman is based in Pleasanton , Calif.