Edamame are young soybeans, which can be enjoyed as a snack or used as an ingredient. They’re surprisingly easy to prep – here’s a guide, from home cook to home cook.

Time: 2/5
Done and over in less than half an hour

Effort: 2/5
A bit more complicated than boil water, but not by much.

Green Power

Every now and then I come across people, online and in person, who ask for a snack option that is healthy and filling. My answer is always, edamame!

Edamame are young soybeans. They’re savoury and nutty, and have a nice creamy texture. They are low calorie, rich in protein, and they’re full of fiber which keeps you full and, ahem, regular. They’re incidentally also vegetarian- and vegan-friendly, and are naturally gluten free. Some folks can get them frozen and ready to go from the grocery store, but others are not so fortunate.

Which isn’t too big of a deal, because it’s easy to prepare a whole lot of edamame at home. I like to blanche a big batch in salted water and freeze them. Having them ready on hand for a snack, as a stir fry rice bowl topping, adding them to salads, or to poke bowls.

It’s a concept akin to Josh Cortis’ Snack City (love your stuff, bro). Whenever I feel peckish, I nuke them to defrost if I’m home. Sometimes, I take them with me in the morning and they defrost by lunchtime as I go about my day.

If you want to be super efficient about it, you could set up for a blanche prep. (That sounded more appetising in my head.) Most of the time is spent waiting for a big pot of water to come to a boil, and there’s no way each batch of vegetables will absorb all the salt you add to the water, so might as well blanche them all in one go while the water is hot, amirite?

For example, start with spinach for a Korean-inspired chilled spinach salad, followed by edamame for Snack City, with okra rounding up the rear for Okra Ohitashi. Save the okra for last, because the mucilage could bother some people if it got into the other vegetables.

Onwards to happy snacking!

Dramatis Personae

Edamame

I try to pick edamame that are nice and green, and are relatively free of the brownish blemishes that they sometimes have. I admit that I have no idea if I’m doing this correctly, I only do it because the greener edamame looks better and that makes me feel good.

If you are interested to know what proportion of the weight of the uncooked edamame you will yield as edible beans, go read about my little experiment in the post for the Edamame, Pork and Pickled Snow Cabbage stir fry.

Water

Theoretically you could divide this into the hot water used to blanche the edamame, and the ice bath used to shock them to retain their vibrant green colour. I’ve blanched edamame with and without the ice bath – I can tell you the ice bath makes a a difference to their colour, but not their taste. Whether it’s worth your while to shock your edamame in an ice bath is a decision you’ll have to make for yourself.

Salt

It makes a big difference! Unsalted edamame taste kind of pasty and bland. But when they’re salted, they take on a creamy, nutty flavour. You could salt it before serving it, and that would give you more control. I prefer to salt the blanching water and let that season the edamame, in advance and all at once. That way my edamame come out of the freezer ready to eat.

Executive summary

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
2. While waiting for water to boil, wash the edamame well.
3. Once water is at a boil, salt well. Blanche edamame for 3-5 minutes, or until tender.
4. Remove edamame from pot and drain. Optionally, shock edamame in an ice bath.
5. Once cooled, spread edamame on a sheet pan and freeze in batches.
6. Keep in the freezer, and defrost as needed.

Play by Play

I put a pan of water to boil, and went on to give my edamame a good rinse. I’m always glad that I do – they were gritty to the touch, and gave off a lot of dirt and assorted debris.

Into a salty, boiling bath they go. The edamame only need 3 or 5 minutes to become tender, and they will continue to cook after you pull them out. If you want to make sure, pick one out and try it for doneness.

I could dunk the edamame into an ice bath to lock in the vibrant green colour, but 1. I don’t have a container big enough to dunk all of the edamame in one go, and 2. I can’t be bothered to do this in batches. So instead I’m letting them steam off and cool down, and to hell with the colour. Home cooking involves making compromises, and I am okay with that.

If you throw all the edamame into a bag and chuck it into the freezer, they will freeze together into a solid mass. Instead, spread them out on a sheet pan and freeze them in batches like this to make sure they remain separate. They don’t have to freeze completely before they go into the freezer bag, just half an hour or so will do.

Now that the edamame have had the chance to chill out by themselves, they can now join the big crowd while maintaining healthy boundaries. Defrost them in the fridge overnight, in the microwave before serving, or simply bring them with you as you go about your day.

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