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Edamame: The New Garden-type Soybean
Quick Link to edamame seed sources
Due to high nutritional value and health benefits, soy foods
are gaining considerable interest in the market place. Much of
this interest has focused on soybean products such as tofu, soy
milk, soy-protein fortified flour, or meat analogs constructed
from extracted soy protein. Interestingly, soybeans are also an
excellent vegetable and may be eaten directly from the pods similar
to other beans or peas. When presented in this edible vegetable
fashion, the garden-type soybean is called vegetable soybean or
edamame.
Growing Edamame
Edamame is very easy to grow—as easy as growing any bush
bean. It’s planted the same way as bush beans, and a mature
soybean plant (edamame plant) is about 2-feet tall. After the
soil has warmed to 65°F, sow seeds 1 inch deep and 2 or so
inches apart, in rows 15-30" feet apart. Don’t rush
planting. If the soil isn’t warm enough, the seed will not
germinate. If you have selected a determinate variety (all pods
on plant mature at same time), then stagger the planting times
to provide a continuous harvest that will not overburden your
gardening time with picking and storing beans. Scroll down for
list of varieties and where to find specific varieties.
Harvesting Edamame
The best way to harvest edamame is to manually pick the immature,
green pods. This can be accomplished by hand picking each pod,
or you can cut the plant at the base or pull the whole plant out
of the ground and pick pods by hand. The vegetable (botanically,
it is a fruit that is classified by type as a legume) is ready
to harvest after the seeds have reached full size but before any
pod yellowing begins. Harvesting edamame at the right time is
critical for maximum texture and flavor. If pods are allowed to
turn yellow much of the quality is lost. Beans reach their maximum
sweetness about a month after flowering. The quality is best when
the pod is plump and bright green, similar to snow peas in color.
Cooking and Storing Edamame
Boil or steam the pods for 4 to 5 minutes (in lightly salted
water if your taste prefers), cool under running water, and remove
the soybeans from the pods. Edamame beans are difficult to remove
from pods unless blanched or steamed. The soybeans can be eaten
by themselves as a “finger food” or added to soups,
salads, fried rice, or other dishes. Do not eat the pods, they
are not considered edible.
After cooking, the beans can be frozen with or without the pods
and enjoyed later as an out-of season treat. Store in freezer
(-20 degrees Fahrenheit). The advantage of eating the immature,
green soybeans instead of the ripened, dried seeds is the better
taste, crunchy texture, and appealing green appearance. They taste
good cold or hot, and the attractive bright green color enhances
the appearance of many dishes. Additionally, the young, green
soybeans are more easily digested since the complex carbohydrates
(oligosaccharides) of the mature seeds are not yet formed.
Edamame Varieties Available
Although all soybeans are edible, certain soybean varieties with
larger seeds and milder taste have been developed for human food
usage and are commonly sold in Japan and Korea. These Asian food
varieties have desirable characteristics but are not well adapted
to the climate, insects, and diseases of the United States. Soybean
breeders in the United States have crossed some of these large-seeded
Asian varieties with adapted US grain varieties and developed
several varieties that are better adapted vegetable types for
growing in the United States.
The garden type or vegetable soybeans have an optimum harvest
period for green pods of just a few days since all the pods on
a soybean plant tend to develop together. The advantage of growing
several varieties with different maturity dates is longer harvest
periods that are spread out to allow several harvest sessions.
This may also be accomplished by having several planting dates
(estimate 3 days delay in planting for one day delay in harvest
but this will vary widely). Like all soybeans these varieties
are self-pollinating and true-breeding, and therefore you may
let a few plants ripen without picking and use these seeds for
next year’s planting.
Edamame varieties:
Agate, 1 1/2 ft, 70-80
days
Beer Friend, 2 1/2-3
ft, 75 days
Butterbean
90 days
Envy, 75 days
White Lion, days to maturity
not given
Late Giant Black, days
to maturity not given
Lucky Lion, 70 days
Green Legend, 75 days
Early
Hakucho,dwarf 1 ft, 65-75 days
Misono green, 85 days
Shironomai,
70 days
Sayamusume, 75 days
Maple Arrow, 67 days
GardenSoy, varies, see below
Commercial edamame suppliers:
Seeds of Change, Certified Organic
Territorial Seed Company
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Thompson & Morgan
EvergreenSeeds
ParkSeed Company
Vermont Bean Seed Company
University of Illinois: GardenSoy variety samples available
At the University of Illinois, selections have been made from specially bred hybrid populations of large-seeded soybeans and now there are a number of promising vegetable-type soybean lines adapted to Illinois growing conditions. Thirteen varieties, named with the prefix Gardensoy, have been released ranging from early maturing (maturity group 0) to late (group IV). The varieties produce soybeans that range from about 50% to twice as large as the common grain types of soybean grown in Illinois. The tradeoff is lower yield. These vegetable types yield only about 60 to 80% as well as grain types of soybean and therefore are not competitive for production and processing.Because of their bigger seed size and better taste they are being offered to home gardeners for small scale production and hand harvest. As harvest machinery and techniques are developed for proper harvest of the vegetable types of soybean, larger scale commercial production may become practical. We can provide 30 to 50-seed packets of these varieties (free of charge) to anyone wishing to try them. Larger quantities may be available from Rupp Seeds of Wauseon, Ohio (Tel 800-700-1199).
The best approach to choosing an edamame cultivar is to find cultivars that are appropriate for your growing region. Click here for information on Gardensoy varieties based on tests at Urbana in 2000 to 2002 on average yield of ripe seeds, mature seed size (centigrams per seed), date of maturity (plus maturity group), stem type, plant height, and mature seed composition (protein and oil).
The Gardensoy varieties have purple flowers, gray pubescence, tan pods, and yellow seed coats with a yellow hilum with the following exceptions: Gardensoy 02 has white flowers, Gardensoy 01, 02, 24, and 41 have brown pods, and Gardensoy 41 and 43 have a light buff hilum.
We will be interested in any taste preference, observations, or comments that you wish to send to us after trying them.
Please send comments and requests for Gardensoy seeds to Dr. Bernard at the address below:
Richard L. Bernard
Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois
1101 Peabody Drive, Urbana, IL 61801
Tel. 217-333-7279 Home 217-398-0926
E-mail: rbernard@uiuc.edu
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