Edamame

"Edamame" is the Japanese word for boiled soy beans. Yup, the same stuff that my Louisiana cousins (you thought I only had cousins in Houston? LOL!) grow for animal feed, it would seem. Only yesterday I bought it (Imperial Gourmet All Natural Edamame) in a big box with 8 little (frozen) packages for a little over $7. I am not thinking that that was such a good buy, but, since I've never actually had this food (other than a little taste at a salad bar), I thought it would be worth the investment to try it out.

I thawed out the first package (not enough room in the freezer for all 8). When it was getting time for dinner, I actually read the box. I didn't realize that the pods were not edible. That makes even more of the packaging a waste, since there was really no need for plastic bowls for these beans and, indeed, not too much justification for taking up all that space in shipping and storage.

Looking for more information on this product (there is no "Imperial Gourmet" website that I could find), I did find a web reference on the package to JYC International. J. Y. Chung and his company apparently import these packages directly from China for Sam's, Costco, and others. The website is not well developed, but there is some more information about the history and cultural context of edamame in the Orient and in the States.

I also spent some time trying to figure out the nutritional value of these beans. Not that I doubted that they were good for me. The problem was the packaging. The nutritional panel said that there were 12 servings in the box, but there were only 8 little bowls. In order to get 12 servings, I would have to divide 6 bowls in half and the remaining 2 bowls in sixths and then redistribute the beans from the two bowls to the half-bowls and . . . what a mess!

And then there were the inedible pods. I had to assume that the pods were not included in the nutritional information, but their size (one-, two-, and three-bean pods) and probable random distribution would affect what was left in each bowl after shelling. *snarl*

I ended up ignoring the nutritional information and winging it. The whole problem just aggravated me. Fortunately, after a couple of minutes in the microwave, a little (not nearly as much as the package provided) sea salt, and a dash of soy sauce produced a nice little bowl of beans to snack on. They were labeled as a snack, so I had to try them as a snack. I shelled them all at once instead of squushing them out into my mouth. I seasoned the bowl of beans after shelling. And it was good. A lot of work and worry for a small bowl of beans, but not so bad.

I ate a few beans and liked the crunch and the taste. Nothing overwhelming as far as flavor is concerned, so I figured the bean would play well with others. I dumped the remainder in a stir fry of celery, onion, cabbage from a package of fresh cole slaw, and leftover rice from the previous day. Very nice when served with salmon. The flavors, even with a little garlic and soy sauce did not overwhelm the salmon, so I had to admit that I was proud of my cooking last night.

I will also look for edamame now in other kinds of packaging with clearer nutritional information. It is very likely to become a frequent addition to my vegetable stir-frys.