Spicy Edamame Recipe: How to Serve and Cook Edamame

Spicy edamame is a Japanese appetizer featuring whole pods of young soybeans tossed in a spicy, garlicky sauce. The dish is a variation of steamed edamame, an appetizer in Japanese cuisine.

You can adjust recipes for spicy edamame to suit any spice tolerance or preference with many easy-to-find ingredients from any Asian market or grocery store. Add a spoonful of fermented black bean garlic sauce, or combine your chili paste of choice (or dried chili powder, like cayenne or hot paprika) with earthy, umami-packed miso, nutty sesame oil, minced raw garlic, and a pinch of salt.

Edamame—a member of the legume family along with lentils and beans—is known as a healthy snack, mostly because it is high in protein and fiber and rich in vitamins and minerals like folate and vitamin K, which help with healing and the development of new red blood cells, respectively.

You can enjoy edamame warm, cold, or at room temperature. The best ways to cook whole edamame are to boil the pods in lightly salted water or to steam them. Here are a few other ways to cook the beans:

1. 1. Boiled: Add in-shell edamame to a pot of salted, boiling water. Boil frozen edamame for one to two minutes and fresh edamame for five to six minutes until the beans are bright green and tender. Drain and rinse the pods in cold water.
2. 2. Steamed: To make steamed edamame, fill a medium pot with an inch of water and bring it to a boil. Place the edamame in a steaming basket, cover the pot with a lid, and steam, eight to ten minutes for fresh edamame and two to three minutes for frozen edamame. Finish with a sprinkling of flaky sea salt.
3. 3. Microwaved: Place frozen edamame in a bowl and add half a teaspoon of water. Cover the bowl and microwave it on high for three minutes.
4. 4. On the stovetop: Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Place two tablespoons of olive oil in the skillet, followed by edamame. Cook, frequently tossing, until the edamame blister, about five minutes. Finish with flaky sea salt.

Squeeze the beans out of the pods into your mouth, and discard the shells in a separate bowl. You can add shelled edamame to salads and stir-fry dishes like fried rice or serve them as a side dish.