Posts Tagged soybeans

Five things

June 24, 2012 at 12:33 pm · Filed under general veggie dish ·Tagged , , , , ,

This is a beautiful take on ごもくまめ (gomoku-mame), or “5 things and [soy]beans.” Or something like that. Often, the dish includes kombu or hijiki, mushrooms, konnyaku, gobo (burdock root), and renkon (lotus root)—the latter two to contribute a literally earthy taste.

Well, here we had to go with what was in our fridge, and we have five things including soybeans, but I think it still counts:

  • shitake mushrooms
  • kombu (seaweed)
  • carrots
  • snap peas

Yusuke anticipated this meal by soaking the soybeans in water for 24 hours or so. When it was time to start cooking, he drained them and added new water, bringing it to a boil. The beans were cooked for about an hour at low to medium heat, and he periodically scooped out the thin, bitter residue that comes off the beans.

Meanwhile, he soaked dried shitake for about 30 minutes. and then added the mushrooms, along with their soaking water, to the beans—enough water to cover them.

Next he added pieces of kombu that had been chopped into square-shaped pieces.

Then he added 1 tsp of sugar and 2 tbsp of soy sauce. Everything simmered for a while to reduce the water. Midway through the simmering stage, he added chopped carrots, and then almost at the very end came chopped snap peas.

Yummy and very filling.

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Edamame tofu

October 2, 2011 at 10:38 am · Filed under tofu ·Tagged ,

One of our recent csa food baskets came with a fantastic surprise: fresh edamame. We never see fresh soybeans in the grocery store here for some reason, so we were very pleased!

The first step was to boil the beans for about 5 minutes in water with about 4 tsp of sea salt. Next, they were shucked from the pods. This was my contribution to the meal (at least I’m good for something…).

In the meantime, Yusuke made a dashi stock with katsuoboshi (although kombu seaweed would also work). He combined 350 mL of water with dashi and 2 tsp agar powder, which he boiled until the powder dissolved. The agar is what creates the tofu texture.

Next, he poured the mixture into the blender with the beans and set it to purée. When finished, it was poured into custard cups and chilled in the fridge until firm.

Served with sea salt or soba sauce (めつゆ).

The difference in taste between fresh and frozen edamame is remarkable. This dish was very subtle, richer than standard tofu. In other words, fantastic.

N.B. It’s optional to use some kind of filter to strain the puréed beans, but in this case, it wasn’t needed.

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