Is the edamame pasta trend on your radar?

No doubt many of us have been in a Japanese restaurant and enjoyed edamame as a snack before the main course. But the world has caught on to the sweet, savoury, nutty and nutritious use of edamame as spaghetti and fettucine pasta. But why? Why has it taken off?

First things first: edamame is the Japanese name for immature soybeans and literally means “stem beans”. This is probably because they are traditionally sold with the stems still attached.

But why do we love edamame? Because like most beans, soybeans are sweeter and have more umami (the core fifth taste of glutamates and nucleotides, officially identified by scientists in 2002 which is literally translated as “pleasant, savoury taste”), due to higher concentrations of sucrose and amino acids before they are fully mature.

The other reason people love edamame is for the perceived health benefits. There doesn’t appear to be a study that correlates eating soy with the cure or prevention of an ailment. Rather, people enjoy the nutritional properties and taste of edamame.

For example, half cup of shelled edamame roughly gives you

• 120 calories
• 9 grams fibre
• 2.5 grams fat
• 1.5 grams polyunsaturated fat (0.3 grams plant omega-3 fatty acids)
• 0.5 gram monounsaturated fat
• 11 grams protein
• 13 grams carbohydrate
• 15 mg sodium
• 10% of the Daily Value for vitamin C
• 10% Daily Value for iron
• 8% Daily Value for vitamin A
• 4% Daily Value for calcium

You can see that edamame contains about 12% protein – which is great for a plant food and it’s a good quality protein source with all the essential amino acids.

With all that in mind, plant-based pasta makers like Slendier are now using edamame to make pasta because it tastes great, keeps its shape, is loved by the whole family, is gluten free (ours is also organic), looks great on the plate and adapts well to take on the taste of the pasta sauce it accompanies.

To get you started with your own edamame pasta dinners or lunches, you might try:

Winter vegetable pesto with organic Slendier Edamame Fettuccine

Asian Chicken Noodle Soup with Slendier Edamame Spaghetti or Fettuccine

Chiang Mail Chicken Curry Noodles (use Edamame Spaghetti or Soy Spaghetti)

Enjoy edamame as a main meal tonight!