Super flavorful Edamame
This is an all-time family favorite, as an appetizer or a snack. It’s high in protein, fiber, great to keep little ones busy and build healthy-eating habits, and improve hand-eye coordination. Yep, sometimes, the little soy beans are hard to catch!
Ingredients:
- 1 bag of frozen or fresh (if you can find them) edamame in shells.
- 1 tsp salt, or more to taste
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 star anise
- 1 small handful (about 1 TBSP) Sichuan pepper corn, if you don’t have these, use black pepper corns. White ones are too mild for this recipe
Method:
Add the seasoning to a medium pot of water and bring it to a boil. You want to add the seasonings first so that they have a bit longer time to release the flavor into the boiling water.
Add the bag of edamame into the pot, and follow the directions to cook, or boil them for a good 5 minutes.
Kill the heat, leave the edamame in the cooking water with lid on to naturally cool down, this is important as well, so the soy beans have a chance to absorb all the flavors.
Use a slotted spoon, fish out all the edamame onto the plate, I don’t stress about the seasonings come onto the plate, but if you do, by all means, take them out, or before you put them into the pot, use a little cheese cloth pouch to enclose all the seasonings for easier removal at the end.
I let my daughter taste a couple Sichuan pepper corns when she was eating the edamame, she was excited to learn that they give a nice numbing sensation in her mouth. Kids learn to appreciate every little ingredients in their food and this helps them to learn new things and try new ideas rather than stick to what they know.
