edamame

Edamame are unripe soybeans.

Edamame are soybeans that are picked while green and unripe and then steamed, boiled, or roasted in their pods. Each pod contains one to four beans.

Edamame is normally eaten as a side dish or appetizer in Japanese and Asian fusion cuisine. When eaten as a side dish, it’s usually served within the pod with a soy sauce or glaze. Generally you only eat the beans, not the pods. The pods aren’t poisonous, but they are hard to chew and don’t digest well.

Shelled edamame can be used in salads, poke bowls, noodle dishes, soups, and other dishes. 

Edamame is both singular and plural, meaning it can refer to each seed individually, a group of seeds, each pod, or a group of pods. 

Example: The first time I had edamame, I didn’t know you were supposed to take off the shells before eating them.

The first records of the term edamame in English come from around the 1950s. It is a borrowing from Japanese that combines the terms eda, meaning “twig,” and mame, meaning “beans.”

What are some synonyms for edamame?

• soybeans

What are some words that often get used in discussing edamame?

• Japanese
• peel
• shell
• pod
• snack
• salad

Edamame is a popular food common in Japanese cuisine. Edamame are often used in salads and in sushi dishes but are also often eaten on their own. 

Eating food that you have to work for is so satisfying.. Like edamame or nuts you gotta break

— Shawn Mendes (@ShawnMendes) January 30, 2015

What did the edamame say to the lentil? How have you bean? #ClassicJokeFriday

— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) May 1, 2015

My eyes were bigger than my stomach. Nessa got some sushi with edamame and I got gyoza, spicy tuna on crispy rice, teriyaki chicken with rice, a salad, and miso soup 🤦🏻‍♀️

— Veronica Merrell (@veronicamerrell) June 5, 2018

True or False?

Edamame are overripe soybeans.