Salt & Pepper Edamame (Jiao Yan Mao Dou)
The beer-food of Chinese night markets: blistered edamame with garlic, chili and five-spice.
Quick answer: This is a genuine Chinese home dish — 10 minutes total, 5 main ingredients plus pantry staples, one pot, and zero wok skills. Serve with an empty bowl for the pods — this is a snack you eat with your hands, slowly, with cold drinks.
5main ingredients
3steps
1pot / pan
0wok skills
The story
Cold beer and a plate of garlic-chili edamame is the soundtrack of a Chinese summer night. Frozen edamame makes it a 10-minute snack that beats any bar's peanuts.
Ingredients (5 + pantry staples)
- Frozen edamame in pods — 1 lb / 450 g
- Garlic — 3 cloves, minced
- Chinese five-spice — 1/2 tsp
- Chili flakes — 1 tsp
- Scallions — 1, sliced
Pantry staples used (don't count toward the 6): salt, cooking oil. Not stocked yet? See the pantry page.
Steps
- Boil the edamame in salted water 5 minutes; drain well.
- Blister them in a hot oiled pan 2–3 minutes until some pods char slightly.
- Add garlic, chili, five-spice and scallions; toss 1 minute. Salt generously.
Swaps
Same treatment on boiled peanuts or blanched green beans.
More 10-minute dishes
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The most-ordered cold starter in China takes 8 minutes and requires you to attack a vegetable with a blunt object.
Egg & Seaweed Drop Soup (Zi Cai Dan Hua Tang)
The default weeknight soup of a billion people: 7 minutes, 4 ingredients, zero knife work.
Blanched Greens with Oyster Sauce (Bai Zhuo)
The Cantonese technique that makes any green vegetable taste like a $18 restaurant side.