Edamame

Edamame
Boiled green fruit soybeans in the pod.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Genus:	Glycine
Species:	G. max
Binomial name
Glycine max (L.) Merr.

Edamame (枝豆) /ˌɛdəˈmɑːmeɪ/ or edamame bean is a preparation of immature soybeans in the pod, found in the cuisine of China, Japan and Hawaii. The pods are boiled or steamed and served with salt.

Outside East Asia, the dish is most often found in Japanese restaurants and some Chinese restaurants but it also has found popularity elsewhere as a healthy food item. In the United States it is often sold in bags in the frozen food section of grocery stores.^{[citation needed]}

Name

Edamame beans and a Japanese beer.

The Japanese name, edamame (枝豆), is used commonly to refer to the dish.^A It literally means, "twig bean" (eda = "twig" + mame = "bean"). Edamame is a popular side dish at Japanese izakaya restaurants with local varieties being in demand, depending on the season.^{[citation needed]} Salt is a typical condiment for edamame. In Japan, arajio is the preferred salt, because it is a natural sea salt.^{[citation needed]} This coarse salt is wet with brine, thus loaded with marine and mineral flavors.^{[citation needed]}

History

The earliest documented reference to the term "edamame" dates from the year 1275, when the Japanese monk, Nichiren, wrote a note thanking a parishioner for the gift of "edamame" he had left at the temple.^[1] Edamame appeared in haikai verse in Japanese in the Edo period (1603 – 1868), with one example as early as 1638.^[2] The earliest recorded usage in English of the word edamame is in 1951 in the journal Folklore Studies.^[3] Edamame appeared as a new term in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2003, and in the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2008.^[4] In the United States, specialty seed companies such as Wannamaker Seeds, created in 1998, helped to introduce the opportunity to grow edamame in the US for the US consumer.^[5]

Preparation

To effectively harvest edamame the pods should be picked by hand and not by machine to avoid stems and leaves.^[6] Green soybeans in the pod are picked before they ripen in order to prepare edamame. The ends of the pod may be cut before boiling or steaming.

Then the pods are boiled in water, steamed or microwaved. The most common preparation uses salt for taste. The salt may either be dissolved in the boiling water before introducing the soybean pods, or it may be added after the pods have been cooked. Fresh edamame should be blanched first before being frozen.^[7]

Nutrient content

The United States Department of Agriculture states that edamame beans are "a soybean that can be eaten fresh and are best known as a snack with a nutritional punch".^[8]

Edamame and all preparations of soybeans are rich in carbohydrates, protein, dietary fiber, and micronutrients, particularly folates, manganese, and vitamin K (table).^[9]

The balance of fatty acids in 100 grams of edamame is 361 mg of omega-3 fatty acids to 1794 mg of omega-6 fatty acids.^[10]

Edamame beans contain higher levels of abscisic acid, sucrose, and protein than other types of soybeans,^{[citation needed]} and may contain carotenoids.^[11]

Legumes may help alleviate symptoms of menopause. Certain legumes contain isoflavones that mimic the female hormone estrogen in the body. Legumes with the highest levels of plant estrogens are soybeans and garbanzo beans. Asian women, who tend to consume significant quantities of legumes, have much higher blood levels of phytoestrogens compared with most American women. Other products made from legumes that contain phytoestrogens include tofu and soymilk. Proceed with caution using isoflavones medicinally, as their safety has not been determined.^[12]

Footnotes

A.^ The Nihon Kokugo Daijiten records two regional name variants for the word edamame: rakkasei (落花生) in Tottori Prefecture, and daizu (大豆), the generic word for soybeans, in Wakayama Prefecture.^[2]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edamame.

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