Conscious Choice: Soy Source

July 2000 | Cooking with the Seasons

Soy Source

by Terra Brockman

"I was determined to know beans"... — Henry David Thoreau

We humans have a mania for meddling. In the realm of American processed food, it all started with Mr. Kellogg and Mr. Graham, who believed with nineteenth-century fervor that they could improve upon nature. (They also believed that their creations would prevent both constipation and masturbation, but that’s another story.)

Nature provides us with lovely, tasty, nutritious whole grains such as wheat, corn, and rice. But we insist on refining all the goodness out of them with intense milling processes. The resulting powders are so lifeless that we then must meddle further, adding back various vitamins and minerals and all sorts of artificial flavors and preservatives. From this amalgam, we manufacture various flakes, crackers, krispies, and crunchies — all wrapped in bright packaging with banners screaming "Healthy!" "Natural!" and "Delicious!"

Now a similar thing is happening with the delicious, highly nutritious soybean. If you’ve entered a grocery store lately, you know what I’m talking about: soy milk in all flavors from chocolate to cappuccino, soy burgers, soy nuggets, soy breakfast links, "Fakin’ Bacon," "Tofu Pups" (hot dogs), soy cheese, soy pudding, and dozens of other "Delicious!" "Healthy!" soy products.

But what about the source of all these things — the unadulterated fresh green soybean? Here in the Midwest we are surrounded with millions of acres of them. The United States produces roughly three billion bushels of soybeans each year, more than 95 percent of which is fed to animals. Most of the remaining 5 percent is made into soybean oil or processed into pesticides and diesel fuel. Only very recently, a minute percentage of the total soybean harvest has been processed into the myriad of soy products mentioned above. But the pure and simple bean itself — as an edible item, not just part of the landscape? That is still a relatively rare commodity in this country.

The World’s Easiest Hors d’oeuvre: Eda-mame

In Japan, however, where I first encountered them, fresh green soybeans are everywhere. They’re called eda-mame [eh-dah-mah-may]. Order beer at any bar in Japan and along with it you’ll get a bowl of soybeans, boiled in their pods. They are the world’s easiest hors d’oeuvre — both to prepare and to enjoy. Simply dump the fuzzy pods (each about two inches long and containing from two to six plump beans) into boiling, salted water and cook for about five minutes. Drain and cool to room temperature. Then simply pick one up and squeeze lightly to pop the tender, sweet, buttery beans into your mouth.

Why aren’t more Americans giving up their greasy peanuts for eda-mame? Ah well, that question brings us back to meddling (and capitalism). The more meddling, the more money to be made. When you buy fresh soybeans from your local farmer, you get the fresh beans and the farmer gets the two bucks you hand over — end of story. When you buy soy milk at $1.79 a quart or "Fakin’ Bacon" for $2.79 a package, you are paying the farmer a penny or two and then paying a lot of other people — the processor, the packager, the advertiser, and the marketer. And what do you get for your money? A significantly less nutritious product.

Fresh soybeans contain healthy amounts of vitamins A and B, and lots of calcium and fiber. They also are packed with phytochemicals. If you have read any recent health or nutrition columns in magazines and newspapers or on the Internet, you know that soybeans are rich in a class of phytochemicals called isoflavones. The research to date, while by no means definitive, suggests that these isoflavones may reduce the risk of cancer, lower cholesterol, and help prevent heart disease and osteoporosis. They may also significantly alleviate the symptoms of menopause.

When soybeans are subjected to intense processing, however, they lose a lot of isoflavones. The chart below shows genistein (the isoflavone thought most responsible for the beneficial cardiovascular and anti-cancer effects) and total isoflavone content of various soy foods. The data are in a twenty-page document from a USDA-Iowa State University study. You may download the whole document at their site.

Isoflavone Content of Selected Soy Foods (given in mg/100 g portion)
*Soy Beans and Traditional Soy Foods*	*Genistein*		*Total Isoflavone*
Soybeans, Korea, raw		72.31		144.99
Soybeans, mature, dry roasted		65.88		128.35
Soybeans, mature, boiled		27.71		54.66
Miso		24.56		42.55
Tofu, Azumaya, firm, cooked		16.15		31.35
*Processed Soy Products*	*Genistein*		*Total Isoflavone*
Bacon, meatless		6.90		12.10
Soy Milk		6.06		9.65
Green Giant Harvest Burger, prepared		4.68		8.22
Soy Butter		0.30		0.57

These data make it clear that the highest isoflavone content is in raw soybeans. When the bean is processed in traditional ways — into miso or tofu — it retains a fairly generous isoflavone content. Other processed soy products, however, retain only a fraction of the original isoflavone content of the beans. The most processed items, such as soy butter and soy oil, have little or no isoflavones left.

The researchers on this USDA-Iowa State University study agree that the reason for the low isoflavone content is the processing methods used. They state that "as much as 60 percent or more of the isoflavone in the raw soybean is lost during processing." And they conclude that "at this time there is no way for a consumer (or expert) to tell from a food label which processing methods have been used and what the isoflavone content of the food might be."

But don’t go rushing out to buy the high-isoflavone supplements that have begun to appear on the shelves of health-food stores. These supplements are generally made from the soy germ and contain extremely high, possibly dangerous, concentrations of isoflavones (100 grams of soy germ contains 2,320 mg of total isoflavone, while 100 grams of tofu contains about 31 mg and 100 grams of soy milk contains about 10 mg). People using supplements ingest much more isoflavone than has ever been possible before — which some studies suggest may actually promote certain cancers.

All the Right Stuff

Clearly, the way to proceed here is the middle course. Why go for overprocessed "Fakin Bacon" on the one hand or megadoses of isoflavone supplements on the other, when right now, right at your local farmer’s market, are lovely fresh soybeans, still on the branch, bursting with all the right stuff in all the right amounts. And delicious to boot!

So... step away from the muddle of conflicting studies, away from the meddling of processors and packagers, and start munching soybeans from the source.

Eda-mame (Boiled Green Soybeans)

This is truly the world’s easiest hors d’oeuvre. Over the years, I have introduced eda-mame to many people and have yet to meet someone who did not love them at first bite . . . and who did not get progressively more addicted with each new bean.

1 bunch soybeans (about 1-1/2 pounds on the stem)
2 Tablespoons salt
2 quarts water

1. Buy fresh soybeans, preferably still on the stem, at your local farmer’s market.

2. Put a big pot of salted water on the stove on high heat. As it’s coming to a boil, sit down (preferably with a bunch of kids or a significant other), and strip the pods off the stems.

3. When the water is boiling, throw the soybeans in, pods and all.

4. Boil for about five minutes.

5. Drain and place in a bowl. (If you are not worried about your salt intake, you can add another tablespoon of salt and toss the still steaming beans. Some of this salt will penetrate into the beans, making them especially tasty.)

6. Let the beans cool to about room temperature. Pick up a pod, hold it close to your lips, and gently squeeze the beans into your mouth. It’s easy, it’s fun, and it’s incredibly good for you.

Fresh Soybean-Tofu-Chinese Green Stir-Fry

If you can restrain yourself from eating the whole lot of your eda-mame, you can proceed to shell them. The beans can then be added to potato salads or primavera-style pasta dishes. Here is a Chinese-style dish using both the boiled beans and tofu.

1 cup freshly-boiled, shelled green soybeans (eda-mame)
2 Tablespoons peanut oil
5 quarter-inch slices fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 hot Thai pepper, crushed
2 cups roughly chopped gai lan, yu choi, bok choi or other oriental greens
1/2 cup chicken stock or miso stock (1 Tablespoon miso paste to 1 cup water)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons cornstarch, mixed into a smooth paste with 1 Tablespoon cold water
8 oz firm tofu, diced
1 Tablespoon sesame oil

1. Prepare the soybeans as described above for eda-mame. When they are at room temperature, squeeze them out of their pods.

2. Heat peanut oil in a wok or heavy frying pan. Fry the ginger and garlic until golden.

3. Add the hot pepper, soy beans, and oriental greens. Stir-fry for two minutes.

4. Add the stock and soy sauce. When it comes to a boil, add the cornstarch paste and stir continuously.

5. As the mixture boils and thickens, turn the heat down and slip in the diced tofu. Gently heat throughout. Drizzle with the sesame oil and serve.

Terra Brockman is the director of The Land Connection Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving farmland and promoting small-scale, diversified, organic agriculture in Illinois. Visit www.thelandconnection.org or call 309-965-2407 to learn how to get involved.

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