Quick-Cooked Edamame with Kombu Dashi or Soy Sauce
MAKES: 4 servings
TIME: 15 minutes
This super-easy and delicious little dish cooks up in no time and makes a terrific lunch hot or cold on top of soba noodles or rice. If you don’t have dashi or stock, use soy sauce as directed; even quicker and easier and nearly as good.
Other fresh beans you can use: any fresh bean like lima, fava, or cranberry will work.
1 tablespoon neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1/4 cup chopped scallion
1 cup Kombu Dashi, vegetable stock, bean-cooking liquid, or 1/4 cup good-quality soy sauce mixed with 3/4 cup water
1 small carrot, julienned or finely chopped
1/2 cup snow peas, trimmed and julienned or finely chopped
2 cups edamame, fresh or thawed frozen
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Put the oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the ginger and scallion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the scallion is soft, about 3 minutes.
Add the dashi and bring to a steady bubble. Add the carrot, snow peas, and edamame and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve.
Variations
Quick-Braised Edamame with Sea Greens. This is good with almost any sea green, though I like hijiki: Replace the carrot and snow peas with about 1/2 ounce (1/3 cup) hijiki; soak it in cold water for 10 minutes and drain.
Quick-Braised Edamame with Green Tea. Replace the scallion with 5 or 6 chopped shiso leaves and substitute freshly brewed, not-too-strong green tea for the dashi.
Quick-Braised Edamame with Ponzu. The zing of the yuzu juice is fantastic: Add roughly the same amount of julienned daikon as carrot and delete the snow peas. Substitute 3/4 cup Ponzu Sauce for the dashi.
Quick-Braised Edamame with Fishless Fish Sauce. Replace the ginger with 1 or 2 hot fresh chiles (preferably Thai), minced, or to taste, or hot red pepper flakes to taste. Substitute 3/4 cup Fishless Fish Sauce for the dashi. Proceed with the recipe and add 4 or so chopped fresh Thai basil leaves and chopped roasted peanuts before serving.
