Edamame

Edamame, my friend, is soy caught young — the bean still green, still sweet, before it hardens into the yellow soybean you know from tofu and soy sauce. Pick it while it's a child, and you get something tender and grassy. Let it grow old on the plant, and you get a hard, dry, pale bean with none of that fresh green sweetness left.

So choose edamame the way you choose any young vegetable — by the pod. It should be bright green, plump, the beans pushing against the skin like they want out. Squeeze gently: if it feels full and firm, good. If the pod looks dull or wrinkled, the bean inside has already lost its youth, and no amount of salt will bring it back.

Some people say edamame is just a snack, nothing more — no! Per hundred grams raw it carries almost 13 grams of protein and close to 7 grams of fat, more than most vegetables ever dream of. That's not a side dish, that's a plate on its own. Treat it like a snack and you'll walk away from the pot too soon or too late. Watch the bean, not the clock: it should turn bright green, tender, with a little bite left — never dull, never mushy in your fingers.