what would you do with soybeans?

[songbird]

i have some that i planted as a cover crop and now they are ready to harvest. amazing what a single plant can produce.

what would you do with them?

tonight i roasted some of them and they tasted kinda like popcorn. i was hoping they'd taste like the soy nuts we used to buy as a snack. not quite. perhaps i need to go for a lower temperature and a longer roast.

songbird

[Dan L]

Hmmm... Try searching YouTube.com for "good eats alton brown et tu mame" Their are two episodes part 1&2, on how to prepare soybeans for eating. Hope it helps. Good Eats tv show is a favorite show of mine.

[Pat Kiewicz]

Pick the pods while the beans are still young and tender. Drop the whole pods in boiling water and boil until the pods start to split and the beans have the texture of cooked peas.

Chill the pods by running under cold water, pat them dry and lightly salt.

You eat them by bringing the pods up to your mouth and squeezing out the beans. (Discard the pods.)

Probably best with a variety meant for fresh eating, and one fantastic snack. Fun to eat and no tedious shelling.

Edamame. Yummm.

[Wilson]

Or bring a quart of water with 1 tbs. of salt to a boil, add 2 cups of soy beans (I like to rub them between my hands in water to remove some of the 'fur',) and set the timer for 5 mins. When timer goes off, drain, sprinkle with a coarse salt and eat them right away as described in last post above - I like them warm with no patting dry necessary.

[songbird]

whups, sorry, i forgot to mention that these are mostly dried already.

i picked the rest today and snacked on the few remaining green ones. :)

i'll probably have 3-5lbs of beans when i get them out of the shells.

songbird

[songbird]

Dan L wrote: ...

i wish i had a better connection, but i'm stuck on dialup at the moment. so youtube searching is not too likely to help me. however, i think you are talking about the green kind of soybeans, and i'm talking about the dried kind that you get at the end of the season.

thank you for your reply. :) how's the cow coming along?

songbird

[Pat Kiewicz]

Well, next time, you'll know to pick them still green.

Or perhaps you'll dedicate some space to growing some for eating that way. I can recommend the variety 'Beer Friend.'

[Dan L]

The show Good Eats is on the food network, that is if you got disk or cable?

Bessy is doing just fine. Pregnant and should produce milk around May and beef two years later.

[Ross McKay]

Get yourself some tempeh starter and make them into tempeh. IMHO, there is no better way to eat soybeans than as tempeh.

you want to ask some questions about the process, here's a group dedicated to it:

's a couple of places to get the starter:

[Bill who putters]

I've made it but not in the last five years. Too bland .

[Ross McKay]

Bland or not, still the best way to eat soybeans :)

But bland sounds like either you froze / thawed before cooking, or hot-dip pasteurised it. Fresh cooked tempeh should taste like mushrooms!

Soybeans just aren't that interesting, IMHO. I prefer to make tempeh (and miso) from other beans that are either more convenient (e.g. chana dal and split fava beans -- tasty, easy to come by and very little effort required) or more flavoursome (black beans and borlotti beans make the tastiest tempeh!)

But if you've got a pile of soybeans ...

[DogDiesel]

I was gonna say soy beans give me serious gas. But I do eat miso paste and make jap fish soup. I bought an old miso book about a year ago, I think it was the book of miso. but decided buying it was way easier.

But you say make your own miso??Or tempah. Care to expand on that statement.

[songbird]

Ross McKay wrote: ...

thank you for the suggestion.

how does the taste compare to tofu?

the flavor is described as mushroomy which is good. :)

i don't mind bland at times, i've eaten plain tofu and it's fine with me.

songbird

[Ross McKay]

Buying is always easier, and it gives you a reliable product. With miso, the product is really good. IME, bought tempeh is a pale imitation of freshly made tempeh, as it has lost its texture and flavour.

I made some miso / fermented bean pastes a few years ago (and need to repeat the experience -- well worthwhile). I made some with soybeans, some with chana dal (chickpeas), and some with fava beans. Still haven't tried the chickpea one, but its time must be near now. The others were / are great! Quite amazing what a simple pile of beans can turn into with a little encouragement. I made some with "proper" miso starter (spore from the mould Aspergillus oryzae), and some with a mixed starter that the Chinese use to make rice wine (comes in a ball, has Aspergillus oryzae as well as some other things). All good. See here for details, or the Book of Miso (very good book).

the starter here (or get some balls of "wine yeast" from a Chinese grocer):

make tempeh when I feel like it, usually in summer when it's easier to keep the temperature right (on a hot summer's day here, there is nothing special to do!) See previous post for links on making tempeh and where to get the tempeh starter.

[Ross McKay]

Nothing like tofu. For a start, you get almost all of the bean (except the hull), whereas tofu is a protein extract from the bean with the bulk left behind (although you can make a tempeh from it -- tempe gembus is made from okara, the solids left from making tofu and soy milk.)

When cooked fresh, it really does taste like a fusion of mushrooms and beans. Very nice diced and stir-fried, or cut into fingers and pan-fried. Most recipes marinate in brine or a soy sauce marinade, but I don't generally bother.

I know of someone who combines the two concepts though, and makes his own stinky tofu by covering cubes of tofu with tempeh starter. Makes it somewhat like a rich, smelly cheese :)

I find the tempeh made with soybeans is very mild compared to tempeh made with some other beans, but when cooked fresh it still has a nice flavour and will pick up flavours from whatever you cook it in.