Green Starters - Summer Sharing Dishes

Opening up the Yuhoki menu, you will find that there is an abundant and dazzling array of Starters. Through the introduction of these special dishes in the next few articles, we are taking you on a journey to this beautiful part of the Japanese food culture landscape. In this article, we are going to introduce two of these starters: Edamame (Soybean) and Seaweed salad.

Edamame

In many Japanese restaurants, Edamame is often at the top of the Starters Menu. Not only is it a common starter, but also a favourite accompaniment for wine or beer. Edamame is high in nutritional value that cannot be underestimated: it is rich in dietary fibre which helps constipation; it is also good for lowering blood pressure as well as cholesterol; it contains iron that can be easily absorbed and can be an iron supplement for children.

A common way to cook and consume Edamame is by having it boiled in the water and sprinkled with some salt afterwards, and then simply “peel and eat”. Yuhoki cooks Edamame in a slightly different way by making sure the soybeans do not get “over-boiled” so that they retain the crunchiness and a grassy taste. As well as the normal Salty Edamame, Yuhoki offers a spicy variety with paprika sprinkled over the soybeans instead. It is worth mentioning that Edamame is a children’s favourite snack as actual peeling the soybeans adds to the enjoyment. Here, we’d like to remind that hands should be washed before eating Edamame.

Seaweed salad

Yuhoki’s Seaweed salad is highly recommended: the portion is very generous, with a refreshing mix of seaweed and vegetable salad, all combined to give a cool and sweet taste. The seaweed, with special flavourings and cooked sesame added, results in a cool and crisp feel. This is a good choice for starters. Another name for seaweed is Wakame, its protein content is higher than kelp. In addition, it contains many amino acids such as calcium, iodine, zinc, selenium, folate and vitamin A, B, C etc. It has high nutritional value. The seaweed is also called the “Beauty Vegetable”.