EDAMAME SPLIT PEA SOUP
Edamame (soy beans) cooked with split green peas. Seasoned with rosemary, fennel and garlic! Fat-free!
Makes 7 cups
2 c. dried split green peas, rinsed till all foam disappears
2 c. froz. shelled edamame (soy beans)
10 c. water
1 T. salt
2 t. ground fennel seed
1 t. dried ground rosemary
1 t. garlic powder or more to taste
1/4 t. ground allspice
2 t. light brown sugar
freshly ground black pepper to taste
In large pot combine split peas, edamame and water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to a slow boil, cover and cook 1 hour.
Add remaining ingredients, then continue to cook till edamame is soft in the centers and peas are creamy to the tongue, about 1 hour longer is how mine progressed (remember that all dried foods depending on the harvest and age cook up differently in terms of time)
Turn heat off and keep covered on stove till ready to reheat and serve.
Notes: When adding herbs, but especially spices, to creamy soups or sauces, whisk them in with a wire whisk to be sure they dissolve evenly in the soup or sauce.
When purchasing frozen edamame you’ll notice that they’re green and not white as you might expect.
If you refrigerate the soup for later, as you probably already know, pea soup thickens more as it sets. So add a little more water to achieve desired consistency, then adjust seasoning.
Edamame is most often served steamed as an appetizer in the shell, whereby cooking time is minimal. For instance on the package instructions, cooking time whether it be boil, steam, stir-fry or micro-wave didn’t exceed 7 minutes.
When cooking in a soup, however, think of them like lima beans – nobody likes a crunchy lima bean in soup or a succotash side dish, which means we have to cook them longer to achieve that creamy inside texture. This is true even more so with edamame. They take a long time to achieve creamy.