Soybeans.

Edamame, also called vegetable soybeans, is a vegetable soybean among soybean crops that is specially used for fresh pods. Edamame is fresh soybeans with pods in them. Edamame is an annual crop with thick stems and fine hairs. Its pods are flat and have fine hairs on the pods, so they are called edamame. When fresh, the pods are tender green, verdant and lovely.

Soybeans are the most important legume in the world. Soybeans originated in China, and most Chinese scholars believe that the origin is the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Many botanists also believe that it is derived from Ussuri soybeans native to China. The cultivated soybeans currently grown are derived from wild soybeans through long-term directional selection, improvement and domestication.

Tips for purchasing edamame

Pay attention to whether the edamame pods are fresh and whether the hairs on the skin of the pods are shiny or not. Fresh pods are firmer, with 2-3 beans in each pod. The color of the beans should be green or green-white, tightly wrapped with a translucent seed coating (white film around the seeds), and the juice will flow out when pinched with your hands.

Stale edamame beans are often soaked in water. If the pods turn yellow and have dark fur, the pods are easy to crack, and the beans are separated from the seed coating when peeled, indicating that the beans are no longer suitable for consumption as fresh beans.