Just call me the world's fifth biggest hypocrite.
I would call myself the world's number one biggest hypocrite, but with corporate scandals, Martha Stewart, various politicians, I am relegated to the lower ranks of hypocrisy.
For all the hating I do on asian "fusion," rather f*ew!*sion, you'd think the last thing I'd do, if at all, is eek! around my kitchen like a damned monkey with a bowl of Japanese edamame that I've Mediterranean-ly pureed into hummus.
rendering sarah completely hypocritical
Mediterrasian. Japarranean.
Oh God, I hate myself.
For not only am I a hypocritous little wench, but I am also ig. Nor. Ant.
I have this thing for hummus. It tastes good, sure. But ever since I discovered that I could make an entire bowl of the creamy chickpea puree at home for all of about, oh, I don't know, seventy-five cents, instead of paying $7.95 for a miniature ice cream scoop-ful at any local Greek or other Mediterranean restaurant, I have been completely obsessed with it. Obsessed, I tell ye.
So obsessed that I drooled all over this past month's issue of Saveur that had a story about hummus, and did all kinds of nerdy research on the Internets before posting about my creation so that I could provide some truly valuable information at least once on this blog. Yes, the Internets. Get ready to be wowed by my intelli-brilliant expertise in all things hummus.
edamame and their dicotyledonous legumery
I, like many of us, thought hummus could be any sort of legume that has been pureed into a dip or spread, and that it just so happened that the most popular version of legume puree is the chickpea version with which I am so obsessed. In fact, I thought I was so breathtakingly brilliant in figuring out that if hummus were merely a puree of legumes, then peanut butter is really a peanut hummus because peanuts are legumes, and refried beans are a pinto bean hummus because beans are legumes, too! And though edamame, young soybeans, are not beans as many of us would mistakenly believe since it has the word "bean" in the name, but oilseeds, they are still legumes, which made them candidates for said "puree of legumes." I was so smug in my clever sleuthing and deductive prowess. Smug smug smug.
*shakes head* How wrong I was. How wrong we all were. Utterly utterly wrong. It is all...a myth.
Well, good thing I am here to dispel that myth! "Hummus" does not, in fact, mean "puree of," which is what we uneducated folk might have thought it was. The word "hummus" is Arabic for "chickpea" (or garbanzo bean or ceci bean or chana), so technically, hummus is always made from chickpeas. That certainly deserves to be repeated.
Hummus is always made from chickpeas!
ignore the hypocrisy for aesthetics
I have been humbled by the Internets.
So technically, you can't have edamame hummus and think you're being all clever because it's a "puree of" edamame. I mean, if I call it edamame hummus, it really should be edamame and chickpeas. It is not. It is only edamame, and technically, it is just "edamame puree," sans chickpeas, sans "hummus."
But when I turn into my hypocritous and ignorant self, when I dub myself Iron Chef Creative Master, hummus can still be made from any sort of bean or lentil or legume, and it's edamame hummus anyway. Forget the Internets and all its wisdom. Let me live in my Kitchen Stadium of Stupid Fusion Hypocrisy and mashup Japanese ingredients with Mediterranean techniques and call it edamame hummus.
Hypocrisy sure tastes good.
Edamame (not) Hummus Recipe
Cook a 12-16 oz. bag of frozen edamame in their pods as directed on the package, then rinse the pods to cool them.
Shell the soybeans. Each individual bean also has a thin, transparent "skin" that you can leave on if you want your hummus to be "rustic" but we all know that "rustic" means you were lazy. Remove the skins. It takes a little bit of time and some dexterity, but what else are you going to do in front of the tv while watching Top Chef?
Puree the shelled and skinned edamame in a food processor with about 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 minced clove garlic, ½ c. water (chicken or vegetable stock will work too), and about 2 Tbsp. sesame oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Regular hummus also has tahini paste (sesame paste), but I didn't use it because sesame oil is good enough. Use more liquid to thin the hummus to desired consistency.
Yes, I know it looks like a ginormous serving of wasabi. Or green tea ice cream.
Serve the edamame hummus in a large bowl as a dip with chips, or you can get fancy and put little scoops on toasted flatbread, garnished with sesame seeds.
Who Else Made Edamame Hummus:
~ FoodNetwork Kitchen adds tahini
~ Ellie Krieger (at FoodNetwork) adds silken tofu
~ Whole Foods Market calls it an "Edamame Dip"
~ RecipeZaar has one with a Spinach and Garlic twist
~ If you're too lazy to make it yourself, you'll have to settle for edamame snacks
** a year ago today, conversation forgave forgettable food at beacon **
tags :: food : and drink : mediterranean : asian : cooking : recipes : los angeles
Anonymous says
WOW. That picture turns me on like nothing else =)
Keith
SoftDrinkGuide.com
sarah says
keith: edamame hummus turns you on? should we be worried?
oh, wait. cauliflower turns me on, so uh, never mind. :)
peachiee says
What a great idea! I'm going to make this for the next potluck I get invited to and impress everyone. What's next, Sarah- lima bean hummus? Azuki hummus? :P
You turned my world upside down!
sarah says
peach: *ew* i hate lima beans! however, azuki bean hummus would be a lovely dessert! :)
and baby, damn right i turned it upside down!
MEalCentric says
Sarah, after all this time, you still crack me up. Couple thoughts, what about chile sesame oil instead of regular, hmmm? Also, have you tried Trader Joes regular hummus? Incredible!!Warning, all the other flavors of TJ's hummus are utter crap.
Lastly, "but what else are you going to do in front of the tv while watching Top Chef?"....I dont know, get drunk and hope Steven gets voted off (that arrogant F..."
Maure says
where i work we serve "japanese hummus" with tempeh crackers and that stuff sells like hotcakes!
unfortunately our hotcakes sell like, well lima bean shooters at sarah's minibar.
Maure says
where i work we serve "japanese hummus" with tempeh crackers and that stuff sells like hotcakes!
unfortunately our hotcakes sell like, well lima bean shooters at sarah's minibar.
sarah says
mealcentric: so glad to see you here again! i was wondering where you went (and what happened to your blog?!?!) chile sesame oil sounds AWESOME. in fact, making the hummus spicy with any sort of oil or pepper sounds fab!
(and yes, i absolutely cannot stand steven. sooooo not cut out to be a chef, but i know they keep him on the show on purpose - to get people to watch)
maure: oooh. tempeh crackers? i didn't know tempeh could make crackers! isn't tempeh like tofu?!?!
sarah says
mealcentric: so glad to see you here again! i was wondering where you went (and what happened to your blog?!?!) chile sesame oil sounds AWESOME. in fact, making the hummus spicy with any sort of oil or pepper sounds fab!
(and yes, i absolutely cannot stand steven. sooooo not cut out to be a chef, but i know they keep him on the show on purpose - to get people to watch)
maure: oooh. tempeh crackers? i didn't know tempeh could make crackers! isn't tempeh like tofu?!?!
Kate says
*dies laughing*
*goes to freezer to defrost edamame*
*contemplates a fusion question: sering it with baked sesame chips? or pita?*
sarah says
kate: omy. if it were me (wait, it was me!) i'd do the baked sesame chips! i wanted to make sesame chips, but couldn't figure out how to make the sesame seeds stick to the already-baked flatbread.
better yet, you should use those japanese bright pastel chips (are they called shrimp chips?) that POUFF up when you deep fry them. that would be perfect!
Maure says
yes indeedily do - tempeh is another miracle product of the
beloved soybean - very thin slices
can be deep fried in two shakes
of a lambs tail to make a wonderful
and healthy snack cracker - or a
snacker as my friend r. ray might
say after a bottle of plum wine.
oh, by the way one can also gussy up the edamame hummus with a splash
of rice wine vinegar.
Maure says
yes indeedily do - tempeh is another miracle product of the
beloved soybean - very thin slices
can be deep fried in two shakes
of a lambs tail to make a wonderful
and healthy snack cracker - or a
snacker as my friend r. ray might
say after a bottle of plum wine.
oh, by the way one can also gussy up the edamame hummus with a splash
of rice wine vinegar.
joanh says
wow! i would have never thought in a million years to make hummus out of edamame, but it sounds pretty good.. i vote for eating it with the shrimp chips!
and definitely voting off steven! go lee anne!
hermz says
So while I was in NYC with da peach, and we were visiting TP's new condo, he took us out on the patio to show me the view. It was superb. He pointed out a nearby rooftop, a few stories below his patio, where we could see down onto some chairs arranged around a table. Furniture of the patio variety. TP said, "And that's where some guy always sits and eats his edamame." I laughed, and I asked, "Do you refer to him as 'The Edamame Guy?'"
"No," replied TP. "We call him 'Ed.'"
sarah says
maure: plum wine?!?! are you making fun of me now?
joan h: i bet on lee anne to take the whole thing. if it's that red head, i will be soooo mad. so mad.
hermz: i bet ed is very gassy and that is why he eats the edamame on the rooftop. alone, too, i bet.
Catherine says
OK. I have to admit, that big green serving of edamame hummus looks really really good! it's pretty and the color is perfect for this time of year! Mmmm...
Maure says
sarah: always!
Nicky says
What a fun read, Sarah! You had me giggling harder from line to line...
And thanks for the facts on Hummus, I didn't know either! The color of your "Edamame (not) Hummus" looks so fresh and extraordinary, maybe I'd like to borrow your newly created term for future (not) Hummus creations... ;)
Anonymous says
This: "we all know that "rustic" means...lazy"
How funny and true!
Court says
For something healthy, that looks pretty tasty!
Lori says
I love the edamame mash! I have some in my fridge that needs my attention and consumption.
So I had no idea about the chickpea/hummus thing. Thank you for the food factoid of the day!
Lori says
I love the edamame mash! I have some in my fridge that needs my attention and consumption.
So I had no idea about the chickpea/hummus thing. Thank you for the food factoid of the day!
Paige says
I whipped up a batch of this this afternoon, and it's fabulous. Great recipe!
Andrew Kile says
You are so full of yourself, Shut up already, your turning me on. Love a Chick that can ramble intelligent about food, put you on my fav's. If you were a Hot Emo Chick with pierced lips, Heaven would be my next move.
Heather says
loved this recipe!! I made my own version and did a little write up... thanks for the inspiration!!
http://theclevelanddilemma.blogspot.com/2011/03/edamame-hummus.html
Robinseitz says
yeah, I get it, and in theory I agree! But what else can you call it edamameus? I also have a great Beet "Hummus" recipe so should I call that "Beatus"...
Chris Corozza says
I kept the skins on... STILL DELICIOUS!!!
Nomboxlunch says
I know you posted this awhile ago, but I like to add some miso paste, soy sauce and cilantro to mine - so good! I also use lime instead of lemon.