Edmame beans

Try jungleseeds.co.uk they have just about every kind of bean seed possible and I've seen Edamame beans on there to buy.

Thanks Anya will check them out.

We grew some on our allotment this year. It took ages to pod them and then they had to be boiled for one or two hours. I think I may stick to buying them in a tasty sauce from the chiller cabinet in future!

Broad beans are easier. I pod them, blanch for one minute and take the outer skin off when they are cool enough. They freeze really well and just need dipping in boiling water to thaw them and warm up.

Liz we're very fond of edamame beans and you can eat them raw. We usually boil them in the pod and serve them in the pod with salt. Then people pop out the beans as they eat them. Soy beans don't need cooking any longer than broad beans.

I love edame beans! One of the farmers on our last South Africa water project had a field full of them, and we wandered around picking and eating. Lovely.

I have dug out my seed packet! The beans that I grew were Mr. Fothergill's soya bean. The instructions on the back say 'Beans must be thoroughly cooked before eating. Soak for 12 hours before cooking, drain, bring to the boil and then simmer for 1-2 hours'.

When slow cookers first came out some people became ill because they used kidney beans which did not reach a high enough temperature. They need to be boiled thoroughly. I assumed this might be the case with the beans that I grew when I saw the instructions.

thanks all. I've had endmame beans in salads and thought I'd like to grow them. I've googled cooking soya beans and opinion seems divided about eating them raw so probably best to boil fresh beans (and pods?) for 10 mins and dried beans for longer. Perhaps I'll stick to peas!