Spicy Chinese Edamame 毛豆

[abcdefg]

These lovely beans are found all over China, but this particular variety is mostly found in Yunnan and neighboring Guizhou. Their local nickname is 猫眼豆, and they are actually the immature version of a type of soybeans 大豆。When boiled with seasonings they become a terrific summer appetizer or snack.

 

Hadn't really planned to make them, but when I went to the wet market for other things yesterday, these were unavoidable, plentiful, and cheap. This is another of those vegetables that's very seasonal, with short availability: the young pods are ready to be picked 5 or 6 weeks after the plants flower. After that, it's too late.

 

These were so fresh that some vendors even offered them with leaves and roots still attached. A far cry from what's available in the frozen food aisle of the supermarkets in my home town back in Texas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me show you one good way to cook them up at home. Not much trouble and tons of flavor. This was a little over two big handfuls of beans; the cost was 4 Yuan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wash them well and even scrub the bean pods a bit with your fingers, a vegetable brush or a clean dishcloth. Let them soak a while in salted water while you get your spices ready. 洗干净，浸泡盐水。

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fennel seeds are at 6 o'clock on this spice palette, with dry red chilies at 7. Star anise at 10 o'clock and cassia bark at noon. Bay leaves at 2 and Sichuan peppercorns at 5. You can use a little more or less of any of them as desired. Put the spices into a pot of water and let them boil to release the flavors while you cut off both ends of the beans with a pair of scissors. This will let the seasonings enter the pod as they cook.

 

Add a couple teaspoons of salt, a tablespoon of light soy sauce, and several drops of salad oil into the pot. (I used olive oil.) Put the beans in and turn the flame down to medium-low. Let them cook, uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes. Towards the end of that time, you will notice that some of the pods begin opening.

 

 

 

Turn them off and let them cool down in the pot for another 10 to 15 minutes. Cooking time can be shorter if you like yours crunchy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dredge them out and put them in a serving bowl. In restaurants they let them cool to room temperature or they even chill them. I never manage to wait that long, and actually prefer them warm. When you eat these 毛豆, don't eat the husk, just work the beans out with your fingers and teeth. It's not difficult. They go great with beer, especially if shared with friends at a wooden table outdoors in the evening. 

 

[abcdefg]

Just wondering, has anybody tried these Edamame, either here in China or elsewhere in the world?

 

They are popular in Japanese restaurants and can also be easily found in Korea. They sometimes show up as bar snacks. Typically they are seen a lot in early summer in countries (such as China) where high-grade soybeans are grown. There they are sold as fresh, green pods or even as whole plants, as shown above. But they show up year round in places where the pods and their beans can only be bought frozen, such as North America and Europe. 

 

Historically they were an important resource during times of famine in China dating back at least to the Ming. Hungry people ate not only the entire seed pods, beans plus shells, but also the leaves of the plant. Sometimes they were dried, ground, and added to flour. They are very high in fiber as well as several important vitamins and nutrients.

 

Thought I would also mention that these can be made much more simply by just boiling in salted water. or they can even be steamed. Then they are usually eaten with a dipping sauce on the side. I've had them that way in 东北 Dongbei. They taste good like that too, especially when the pods are young and tender.

[imron]

4 hours ago, abcdefg said:

Just wondering, has anybody tried these Edamame, either here in China or elsewhere in the world?

Used to have plate after plate of 毛豆 on summer evenings in Beijing and Hebei.  They go especially well with 羊肉串 and beer.

[abcdefg]

That certainly does sound like a winning combination!

[iekkim]

9 hours ago, abcdefg said:

Just wondering, has anybody tried these Edamame, either here in China or elsewhere in the world?

We get them frozen from a Costco-like store in my country and I usually just boil them wth a bit of salt, or steam them. It's a great snack.

 

They also offer these as appetizers in some Japanese restaurants. 

[somethingfunny]

Yeah, I used to get them at a barbecue place.  I don't think they were spicy though.

[Luxi]

All the edamame beans I've seen around here are shelled and 'tender' isn't an attribute of those I've tried. The recipe is great, I can see no reason why sugar snap peas or french beans or some other type of fresh beans in pods couldn't work as a substitute. 

[abcdefg]

On 7/12/2017 at 5:00 PM, iekkim said:

They also offer these as appetizers in some Japanese restaurants. 

 

That's where I've most often seen them in the US.

 

On 7/12/2017 at 5:10 PM, somethingfunny said:

Yeah, I used to get them at a barbecue place.  I don't think they were spicy though.

 

Probably not. The most common way to make them is to just boil them in salty water.

 

On 7/12/2017 at 6:27 PM, Luxi said:

I can see no reason why sugar snap peas or french beans or some other type of fresh beans in pods couldn't work as a substitute. 

 

I'm sure they could be used. And a bonus would be that you could eat the whole pod, not only the beans inside it.

 

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These that I found here in the wet market this week were unusually fresh and tender. I've read that the best ones, like these, are cooked and eaten within 10 or 12 hours of when they were picked. That's a fast supply chain!

 

 

They sell them with the roots and leaves still attached as another strategy to keep them from drying out. When I first saw them like that, I didn't understand that the leaves and beans and roots were all the same plant. Had to look close. Plus, I'd never bought them like that. An old lady who was shopping there explained it to me.

 

Always and adventure to go to this outdoor market; I learn something new every time.

 

[Mindmaxd]

I like to cook it in Summer,here people usually like to boil it with peanuts,we call it 花毛一体，eat them with bbq is pretty good in summer,also in summer they can supply you much more energy.

[abcdefg]

Boiled with peanuts sounds good! And 烧烤 is always a winner in summer! At an outdoor table on the sidewalk, plenty of cold beer.

[Alex_Hart]

Looks great, abc. I make this often to go with beer, or as a light lunch. Like you, I always preferred them warm.

 

They're pretty common in NYC now. Started in Japanese restaurants, I'm sure, but you can find them fresh in the market for a large part of the year, and frozen at other times. Bars and "burger joints" will often list them as an appetizer or side dish. 

 

I usually kept a bag or two in the freezer while away at college and played with the soup, adding soy sauce or more spices depending on my mood. I found the soy sauce to be a pretty delicious addition. Just had them in Japan with what I think was a miso paste dressing - not sure if it was added during cooking or after, but was pretty good. 

 

My girlfriend and I would boil a huge pot of them (with lots of salt!) and take the bowl out to my apartment's stoop for a beer when the weather got nice. They often came covered in a ridiculous amount of 辣椒 and 花椒 in Chengdu; a favorite 火锅 restaurant among my friends would serve them as you waited outside on wooden stools.