Edamame is the immature, still-green soybean (Glycine max), picked when the seeds are full-sized but the pod is plump and tender, then boiled or steamed in its fuzzy shell and eaten by squeezing the beans straight into the mouth. The name is Japanese — eda (branch) plus mame (bean) — and the lightly salted pods are the classic warm-weather snack and izakaya nibble of Japan, China and Taiwan. Sweet, buttery and grassy-green with a firm snap, it is one of the few plant foods that delivers a complete protein, and it bridges the gap between a vegetable and the dried bean it will become if left on the plant.