Remember when kale was the hero green and you weren’t a cool venue unless you had it chopped in salads, steamed, sauteed, baked or toasted into chips on your menu? Well, same goes for edamame now – the magic bean that has virtually all the health benefits of eating meat. You’d be forgiven for thinking they were broad beans or snow peas, the green wonder (or soya bean) is a complete protein source, high in fibre, lowers cholesterol and vitamin C apparently – but that’s not why we love them. We have jumped on the train to hail edamame as a superfood because they keep us preoccupied while waiting for our main meal.
A sense of accomplishment comes over us when we suck the bean from its pod, tender to bite but still yielding a crunch from being perfectly charred. Enjoy them boiled with a light sprinkling of salt, fried and tossed in soy sauce, add some spice or have them served hot or cold. The only definite with a bowl of edamame is that you are guaranteed to finish the whole lot even after saying ‘I’ll just have a few.’
The bean originates in China and is popular in Japan but night now its’s trending in Canberra’s favourite Asian influenced venues.
Here our top 5 edamame picks to help you connect over.
Lilotang
Lazy Su
Natural 9
Raku
Akiba
