We did a little fridge cleaning this weekend. And I unearthed this bag of frozen edamame that have been in our freezer since the Bush administration. Probably the son.
Not surprisingly, they looked bad.
Really bad.
A few had freezer burn, many were shriveled. I reluctantly made peace with putting them out to pasture (in the compost pile), but decided to do a little experiment before I did. I wanted to see just how bad they looked after cooking.
What began as more of a curiosity with a sliver of hope ended as another example of that age-old maxim: don’t judge a food by its appearance.
The (soy) beans inside looked great! I ate a whole bunch and they tasted the exact same as any other bag of frozen edamame I’ve ever had (i.e. fine, but not amazing).
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P.S. If Wikipedia is to be believed, the Japanese word ‘edamame’ literally means “twig beans,” which I love.
Comments
3 responses to “Old Edamame”
Good thing you tried it, eh? If you don’t like the taste try my ad-hoc invention “Asian succotash.” Equal amounts corn (fresh or canned, but I don’t think frozen works well for this) and edamame, with a littlecream, salt, and sugar. You can add minced red pepper for some color as well.
Recently I’ve either rescued a lot of peaches by making ice cream from the excess, or wasted a few peaches by not making the ice cream earlier.
I’m not surprised that the beans were still good: after all the pod’s main function is to protect the seeds inside come what may!
There was a recent study (I can’t remember what it was called) that tested the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables that were past due, and the results were surprisingly positive: despite appearances, most were still packed with quite a bit of vitamins and minerals. I wish I could point you towards the study, but I can’t remember where I gleaned the info, but it just goes to show that alot of the food that ends up in the bin or the compost could have been eaten.
Thank you! I just found a bag – same Trader Joe’s brand – and did the same experiment, however, I wasn’t as brave as you… before eating i went to the internet – luckily i found your story and I am munching on my edamame now. 😉