They showed me how to hold the pod lengthways near my lips and then pinch the outer edge of the pod, pressing the beans against the inner seam to split it so the beans popped neatly into my mouth. Eating them from the shell in a common bowl is a time-honored tradition that enhances the pleasures of social interactions with friends. You can also shell them before you serve them, or add them to stir-fry or other dishes. There's another excellent reason to give edamame a try this summer.
Many of us are eating more soy foods than ever before as we learn about the health benefits of this nutritious food. Aside from being a great source of quality protein and vitamin E, soy foods contain isoflavones, which seem to play a role in reducing the risk of heart attack, osteoporosis, breast cancer and prostate cancer.
Edamame does well in many different soil types, but make sure the spot is well drained with plenty of mature compost worked in. Soybeans are a warm-season crop, so plant the seeds when it's time to transplant tomatoes, or when the soil is at least 60 degrees.
All soybeans, including edamame, are legumes that host beneficial nitrogen-fixing bacteria on their roots. To take advantage of this natural nitrogen production, you can dust your seeds before planting with a bacterial inoculant for soybeans available from most seed catalogs that offer edamame. Some Japanese farmers transplant this valuable crop from the greenhouse. To do this, be sure to grow the seedlings in separate pots and carefully transplant them after hardening off the plants.
Make sure your edamame bed gets full sun and give the plants the same amount of water you give peas or beans. Once the plants start yielding harvestable pods, keep the beans picked on schedule, not missing any.
Remember the plant's goal is to reproduce, and they won't continue yielding if you allow them to make seed. Harvesting edamame pods for fresh eating is like picking peas for shelling. The first sign your crop is close to harvest is the swelling of the pods. Once this starts it's a good idea to check your plants every couple of days to monitor their progress.
This is important because they can quickly over ripen and become starchy. When the beans are fully formed and almost touching each other within the pods, open a few of the plumpest pods to see if the beans are fully formed, and taste a few of them raw.
They should be mildly sweet and tender without any starchiness. Iowa gardener David Cavagnaro says, "There's a very narrow harvest window, and you really have to pay attention to get the maximum tenderness and sweetness from your crop. So now you've got a crop of edamame coming in, and you're finding out just how many pods those couple of rows you planted can produce. If there are more ripe pods than you can use fresh, the best way to preserve them at their peak of perfection is to freeze.
Freezing edamame is almost as easy as cooking them to eat on the spot. All you do is wash them, then cook and freeze right in the pod. For freezing, put the pods into lightly salted, boiling water, and instead of cooking them for five to six minutes as you would when you plan to eat them fresh, reduce the cooking time to three to four minutes.
When they're done, lift the pods from the boiling water and put them into a basin of ice water. This will stop the cooking process. Once all the pods are chilled, lift them from the water and pat the excess water with a clean kitchen towel.
Next place them into plastic freezer bags, press the excess air out and pop them into the freezer. When you want a taste of summer, just take a bag out of the freezer, pour the contents straight into a pot of boiling water and cook for only two to three minutes. To evaluate the edamame varieties now offered in seed catalogs, I enlisted the help of two astute gardeners in other parts of the country, gardener and photographer David Cavagnaro in Decorah, Iowa, and C. Lawn, a seeds person in Canaan, Maine, to augment my plantings in Bellingham, Washington.
Remove the pods individually once you pull the plant up, or hang the entire plant and let the pods dry. Cut the base of the plant at the soil surface with a pair of garden clippers.
Hang it to dry the pods or pull each pod from the stalk gently. Tara Kimball is a former accounting professional with more than 10 years of experience in corporate finance and small business accounting. She has also worked in desktop support and network management. Her articles have appeared in various online publications.
By Tara Kimball. Related Articles. Thin seedlings to 6 inches apart when the plants are 4 inches tall. Apply mulch to control weeds and maintain moisture. Water regularly throughout the season and especially after flowers and pods appear. Edamame pods are ready to harvest when they are 2 to 3 inches long, bright green and plump. Snap or cut the pods off the plant.
Do not tear the plant. Store fresh edamame in an airtight container or a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Blanched edamame can be frozen shelled or in the pods. Harvest dry soybeans when the plant and leaves are dry and brown and the seeds inside the pods rattle.
Pull up the plants and hang them in a dark and dry area until the pods are completely dry. Store dried beans in an airtight container in a dark, cool and dry location. Known for its buttery flavor. Rich taste. Recommended for its rich flavor. It is the only vegetable that contains all nine essential amino acids.
How to Eat Edamame Boil the pods in salted water, about five to six minutes until tender.
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