Edamame cream cheese dipping paste with butter French bread (枝豆クリームチーズディップとバターフランスパン)
Edamame is a very popular side dish in Japan. “Edamame” literally means “stem beans” in Japanese. My family in Japan grows Edamame and they eat Edamame a lot at home especially in Summer. Edamame is served as a side dish at a lot of Japanese Izakaya (Japanese pub which serves food as well). I was surprised to see that many local grocery stores in the U.S.A. also sold frozen Edamame and named as “Edamame” in Japanese. This dipping paste doesn’t have a strong taste, but it is tasty and good with butter bread and a glass of wine. My sister said that I put too much Edamame cream cheese dipping paste on butter bread, but it was delicious and I enjoyed eating them a lot!
Ingredients (2 plates):
- 150g (5.3oz) of frozen *Edamame
- About 1420ml (1.5 quarts) of water (For boiling)
- 1 teaspoon of salt (For boiling)
- 100g (3.5 oz) of cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon of salt & pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
- 6 slices of French bread
- 1 tablespoon of butter (For bread)
- Parsley leaves
*Edamame is a Japanese dish and a type of soybean that is steamed or boiled in the pod. -> See picture A.
Here is how to make it at home. Cooking time is about 15 minutes - 20 minutes.
- Boil water in a medium pot with medium heat. Add salt.
- Add *Edamame in the pot. Boil for about 5 minutes or until *Edamame is soft. -> See picture B.
- Remove from heat. Put *Edamame in a strainer basket and leave for 1-2 minutes to cool it down. -> See picture C.
- Meanwhile, put cream cheese in a microwave and heat for 30 seconds to soften the cheese. -> See picture D.
- After *Edamame cools down little, push Edamame pods, take out the inside Edamame beans and put them in a medium – large bowl as shown in the picture. -> See picture E.
- Mash the Edamame beans with a masher as shown in the picture. -> See picture F.
- Add cream cheese and olive oil. Mix thoroughly. Put it in a refrigerator until it is served. -> See picture G & H.
- Spread butter on French bread and heat them in a toaster until surfaces are little brown and crispy.
- Put butter French bread and Edamame cream cheese dipping paste on plates. Sprinkle salt & pepper and decorate parsley leaves on top of the dipping paste. When you eat the bread, spread the Edamame cream cheese dipping paste on top.
